New Paper by PK President Demonstrates Importance of Existing Antitrust and Economic Regulation

Thanks to recent antitrust enforcement and communications regulation, consumers continue to reap the benefits of exploding Internet entertainment, as well as educational and business opportunities. By facing down the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner, and by establishing strong network neutrality rules, the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission have protected Internet users from discrimination and promoted broadband innovations that are critical to our democracy and essential to freedom of expression.

In a newly published article for the Harvard Journal of Law and Policy, Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman and Mark Cooper (Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America) argue that these results could only be achieved through existing antitrust and economic regulations, and other similar results require effective application of both bodies of law in tandem to protect our democracy and achieve the full economic and social benefit that the Internet can deliver. Because the Comcast/Time Warner Cable review created a new standard in combined antitrust and Federal Communications Commission enforcement practices, law enforcement entities are well positioned to make sure the proposed Charter/Time Warner Cable merger lives up to the most exacting public interest test. Similarly, having already committed significant concessions related to open internet policies, it is clear that recent enforcement actions send a clear signal that the Obama Administration is dedicated to ensuring open affordable access to meaningful broadband services and a competitive Internet ecosystem that supports online video distribution and freedom of expression.