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November 2016

FCC's Rosenworcel Could Still Get Confirmation Vote

There was some buzz late on Nov 29 that Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission could get an 11th hour confirmation vote after all. Without that Senate vote, she would have to leave the commission at the beginning of January. Retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said they were close to a deal for Commissioner Rosenworcel's vote. Incoming Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was also said to be interested in the outcome. Apparently, they had been told that if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) could get some Democratic help with his pick for a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has also been held up, Commissioner Rosenworcel might be able to get a vote. Apparently, Sen John Thune (R-SD) had signaled that FCC chairman Tom Wheeler's failure to commit to leaving the FCC—he has signaled he is likely not staying but has not made it official—was one hold-up in getting a Senate floor vote on Rosenworcel's confirmation, though it is McConnell that controls the calendar. Reid had reportedly said a deal was in the works.

Tech, communications, and IP policy priorities in a Trump Administration

[Commentary] Under President Donald Trump, technology, communications, and IP policy have an almost “blank slate” quality that I have never before seen. The President and his Administration will have a remarkable opportunity to re-think the policies of several prior Administrations and develop better ones. Here are a few thoughts about how that process could proceed.

Improved cybersecurity will be essential: For too long, on the Internet, basic American rights, including rights to property and privacy, have all but ceased to exist when private or proprietary data is digitized and stored on Internet-connected devices that can be accessed by thieves, “activists,” or foreign governments. That must end.

End “crony capitalism” throughout technology, communications, and IP law and policy: The new Administration wants to end “crony capitalism” — but that term may be too kind. There is no “capitalism” involved in securing a marketplace advantage by using your political influence to buy from the government some unfair advantage for yourself, or some crippling regulation of your direct competitors or producers of complementary goods.

In short, focus on ensuring that private property rights — including IP rights — remain enforceable and enforced, even on the Internet, and consider repealing laws or regulations that attempt to impose one-sided controls on two-sided relationships between businesses that should be expected to settle their differences in the marketplace. These two principles, consistently applied, would do much to improve technology law and policy and reduce regulatory arbitrage.

[Tom Sydnor is a Visiting Fellow with AEI. Previously, he served as Director of the Center for the Study of Digital Property at the Progress & Freedom Foundation.]

How should Donald Trump’s administration regulate the Internet?

[Commentary] How will the Trump Administration regulate the Internet? The truth is that nobody really knows. With virtually nothing to go on, speculation about the new Administration’s approach to technology (and there has been a lot of it) is mostly just hot air rushing to fill a vacuum. So perhaps the better question to ask is: How should the new Administration approach digital innovation? The short answer: cautiously.

As the Trump Administration belatedly prepares its technology policy, the best Silicon Valley and its customers worldwide can hope for is a recognition that slow-moving regulators, even with the best of intentions, can do very little good trying to shape a digital revolution already in progress. As new interns are told on their first day in the emergency room, “Don’t just do something. Stand there.”

[Larry Downes is a project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy]

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