Law Commons^™

Overestimating Wireless Demand: Policy And Investment Implications Of Upward Bias In Mobile Data Forecasts, J. Armand Musey Cfa, Aalok Mehta

J. Armand Musey, CFA

In this paper, we present evidence of persistent errors in projections of wireless demand and examine the implications for wireless policy and investment. Mobile demand projections are relied upon in academic and government research and used for critically important telecommunications policy decisions, both domestically and internationally. The Federal Communications Commission, for example, used such projections to estimate a 275 MHz spectrum shortage by 2014 and featured such estimates in the U.S. National Broadband Plan as evidence for allocating additional spectrum for cellular services. The International Telecommunications Union Radiocommunication Sector endorsed in 2006 an estimate of a 1,280- to 1,720-MHz spectrum …

Right-Sizing Spectrum Auction Licenses: The Case For Smaller Geographic License Areas In The Tv Broadcast Incentive Auction, William H. Lehr Phd, J. Armand Musey Cfa

J. Armand Musey, CFA

The wireless sector is a key contributor to economic activity and growth. Over the next several years, wireless service providers are expected to invest $25 to $53 billion upgrading and expanding their networks to deploy 4G mobile broadband across the nation. All told, wireless broadband investment and the services and innovation supported by such investment are expected to add between $259 and $355 billion to US GDP each year through 2017. The Federal Communications Commission ("Commission" or "FCC") is currently designing the largest ever auction of terrestrial wireless spectrum, currently planned for late 2014 (the "Incentive Auction"). The purpose is …

Law Abiding Drones, Henry H. Perritt Jr., Eliot O. Sprague

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

One Hundred Nos: An Empirical Analysis Of The First 100 Denials Of Institution For Inter Partes And Covered Business Method Patent Reviews, Jonathan R. K. Stroud, Jarrad Wood

Jonathan R. K. Stroud

Tasked in 2011 with creating three powerful new patent review trial regimes, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office—through the efforts of their freshly empowered quasi-judicial body, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board—set to creating a fast-paced trial with minimal discovery and maximum efficiency. In the first two years of existence, the proceedings have proved potent, holding unpatentable many of the claims that reach decisions on the merits. Yet a small subsection of petitions never make it past the starting gate, resulting in wasted time and effort on the parts of petitioners—and likely sighs of relief from the rights-holders. Parties on …

Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Approaches To Network Neutrality: A Cost Benefit Analysis, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

Many advocates for less intrusive government oversight of telecommunications support the migration from regulation by an expert agency to the use of adjudication remedies largely guided by antitrust/competition policy principles. They believe that competition authorities, or reviewing courts can resolve disputes after they have occurred in lieu of having expert regulatory agencies available to anticipate and resolve problems before they become acute. Such ex post remedies typically determine whether anticompetitive conduct has occurred and what marketplace harm has resulted. Advocates for retaining so-called ex ante regulation believe that an expert agency remains essential particularly in light of fast changing market …

Drones, Henry H. Perritt Jr., Eliot O. Sprague

Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

The Eye Of The Beholder: Participation And Impact In Telecommunications (De)Regulation, Dorit Reiss

Dorit R. Reiss

The California Public Utilities Commission addressed both pricing deregulation and universal service in telecommunications during the last decade. Both decisions had a similar cast of characters, and similarly elaborate processes. In relation to price deregulation, the utilities positions were accepted on every issue addressed; in relation to universal service, consumer organizations’ positions were accepted in about 60% of the issues. This article tells the story of how those decisions were made, and examines the reasons for the difference in impact. The article examines and reject an explanation of capture; accepts in part a focus on the influence of the commissioner …

Will More, Better, Cheaper, And Faster Monitoring Improve Environmental Management?, Ryan P. Kelly

Ryan P Kelly

Two critical problems in environmental management are a lack of primary data and the difficulty of assessing the environmental impacts of human activities. Producing the information necessary to address these twin challenges is often difficult and expensive, which impedes decisionmaking in environmental management. I focus here on the possibility of making data collection more powerful and more cost-effective with a suite of analyses made tractable by emerging technology for genetic analysis. More, better, cheaper, and faster information about the planet’s living resources promises to influence a wide range of legal and policy processes—from Clean Water Act compliance and related public …

U.S. Government Counterterrorism Asset Freezes: Regulatory Seizures In A Digital Age Of Terrorism, Adam S. Wallwork

Adam S Wallwork

This Article addresses the question of when, if ever, the Department of the Treasury’s counterterrorism asset freezes against US persons (US citizens, resident aliens, and US-based organizations) violate the Fourth Amendment. It addresses two questions that currently divide the federal courts: (1) whether OFAC blocking orders are seizures subject to the Fourth Amendment and (2) whether the Fourth Amendment’s warrant and probable-cause requirements apply to OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders if these orders are in fact seizures.

My Originalist analysis of OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders draws on evidence of the Framers’ original understanding of “unreasonable . . . seizures,” including the …

A Discourse On The Public Nature Of Research In Contemporary Life Science: A Law-Policy Proposal To Promote The Public Nature Of Science In An Era Of Academia-Industry Integration, Michael J. Malinowski

Michael J. Malinowski

This article addresses the impact of integration of academia, industry, and government on the public nature of research. The article concludes that, while the integration has benefited science immensely, regulatory measures should be taken to restore the public nature of research in an age of integration.

Broadcasting Licenses: Ownership Rights And The Spectrum Rationalization Challenge, J. Armand Musey Cfa

J. Armand Musey, CFA

This Article examines the showdown between television broadcast- ers and the government in light of the FCC’s plan to reallocate cur- rently licensed broadcast spectrum to signifcantly higher value mobile broadband use. The government seeks to do so in an economically, socially and legally effcient manner, and has indicated that it seeks a reallocation process that is voluntary for broadcasters. Nonetheless, any spectrum reallocation proceeding raises the question of whether, and to what extent, television broadcasters ultimately possess rights to licensed spectrum, and what type of compensation, if any, they would be owed if the FCC takes their spectrum licenses …

Rationales For And Against Fcc Involvement In Resolving Internet Service Provider Interconnection Disputes, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) provide end users with access to and from the Internet cloud. In addition to providing the first and last mile carriage of traffic, ISPs secure upstream access to sources of content via other ISPs typically on a paid (transit), or barter (peering) basis. Because a single ISP operates in two separate segments of traffic routing, both the terms and conditions of network interconnection and the degree of marketplace competition can vary greatly. In this double-sided market, ISPs typically have many transit and peering opportunities upstream to content providers, but downstream end users may have a limited …

From Bad To Worst: Assessing The Long Term Consequences Of Four Very Bad Fcc Decisions, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Far too many major decisions of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) rely on flawed assumptions about the current and future telecommunications marketplace. If the FCC incorrectly overstates the current state of competition, it risks exacerbating its mistake going forward if actual competition proves unsustainable, or lackluster. In many key decisions the FCC cited robust competition in current and future markets as the basis for decisions that relax restrictions on incumbents, abandon strategies for promoting competition, or apply statutory definitions of services that trigger limited government oversight. The Commission ignores the secondary and tertiary consequences of decisions that deprive it of …

Invoking And Avoiding The First Amendment: How Internet Service Providers Leverage Their Status As Both Content Creators And Neutral Conduits, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

Much of the policy debate and scholarly literature on network neutrality has addressed whether the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has statutory authority to require Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) to operate in a nondiscriminatory manner. Such analysis largely focuses on questions about jurisdiction, the scope of lawful regulation, and the balance of power between stakeholders, generally adverse to government oversight, and government agencies, apparently willing to overcome the same inclination. The public policy debate primarily considers micro-level issues, without much consideration of broader concerns such as First Amendment values. While professing to support marketplace resource allocation and a regulation-free Internet, the …

Regulatory Supervision Of Emerging Technologies: A Case For Nanotechnology In India, Nupur Chowdhury

Nupur Chowdhury

Regulatory supervision of emerging technologies is seen as unfriendly to business ventures entering uncharted areas. However, technologies like nanotechnology should be supervised as they pose potential environmental risks and health hazards. The initial investments into research in such technologies are public-funded and, hence, it is important to consider questions of efficiency in resource allocation, the need for transparency and public involvement in decision-making.