Tag Archive: Communications and Technology
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Calling for Excessive Cell Phone Taxes? Please Press One
ALEC Blog Team | February 20, 2013 | Add a commentBy Michael Lambert If you’re subscribing to a cell phone in Washington State, you might want to consider becoming an Oregonian, where lower cell phone taxes are markedly cheaper. According to a recently released study by the Tax Foundation, American consumers pay on average 17 percent in cell phone taxes … »
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Don’t Let Government Break the Internet
Alex Rued | January 28, 2013 | Add a commentIt’s great to hear just about anybody speak on Internet freedom, but U.S. Representative Steve Scalise did the topic justice at this year’s State of the Net Conference in Washington, DC. Discussions at the highly-anticipated conference ranged from Big Data and the Cloud—perhaps the most used and least understood terms of … »
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Susan Crawford’s flawed argument about broadband competition
John Stephenson | January 14, 2013 | Add a commentSusan Crawford, a professor at Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, argues in her interesting and provocative new book Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age that broadband Internet should be treated more like a traditional public utility such as electricity, water, sewer. She writes, … »
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Is Broadband a Monopoly?
Alex Rued | November 1, 2012 | Add a commentBroadband is often described as the “core” of the Internet ecosystem—little more than the basic infrastructure across which users interact, and subject to heavy-handed government regulations that reflect this assumption. However, AEI visiting scholar Jeffrey Eisenach challenges this assumption, arguing instead that broadband is an integral part of the Internet … »
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Tech Sector and Organizations Tackle the Nation’s Skills and Talent Deficit
John Stephenson | October 8, 2012 | Add a commentThe United States faces yet another deficit, but this one is not a simple matter of red ink in a government budget. U.S. companies urgently need thousands of skilled professionals trained in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, but there are not enough workers with the necessary skills. … »
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Mobile Apps Market Making Moves for U.S. Economy
Alex Rued | October 2, 2012 | Add a commentNotwithstanding the rest of the U.S. economy, experts believe the trajectory of growth in the mobile application (“app”) industry will reach new heights over the next five years. A recent Application Developers Alliance study concluded that app-capable devices such as the iPad, iPhone, Android, and Kindle Fire are rapidly gaining popularity: 62% … »
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Cloud Computing Taking High-Tech Economy by Storm
Alex Rued | September 19, 2012 | Add a commentWhat do Netflix, NASA and the Senegal Ministry of Finance have in common? They all operate in the cloud. Cloud computing is increasingly relevant to businesses, consumers, and even government, yet ‘the cloud’ remains a cloudy concept for Americans, including policymakers. According to a recent survey conducted by Wakefield Research, … »
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ALEC works with lawmakers
ALEC Blog Team | September 18, 2012 | Add a commentALEC op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning. “While Washington has become gridlocked and largely ineffective, the real legislative action is happening at the state level. Why? Because it has to. Years of irresponsible spending, heavy-handed mandates and burdensome regulations from Washington have had real effects on state budgets. And, … »
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Uber vs. City Hall
John Stephenson | September 11, 2012 | 1 CommentHailing a taxi is one of the most frustrating experiences in modern city life. Unfortunately, city government seems intent on keeping it that way. Uber, a San Francisco-based company, has developed a smartphone app that allows available limo and taxi drivers to connect with people looking for rides using GPS … »
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Popular Good or Public Good? The Debate to Nationalize Facebook
Alex Rued | September 5, 2012 | Add a commentDespite what history proves about the transient nature of the social media sector—who still uses Friendster or MySpace?—Philip N. Howard’s recent Slate column calls for regulation of the newest social media “monopoly” Facebook. In his article, entitled “Let’s Nationalize Facebook,” Howard proposes that the United States government seize the private … »
