The Heartland Institute

Privacy is one of our most cherished values, especially in this increasingly connected world. There is no question that we all want to be able to protect ourselves from harms or intrusions into our lives by the government or marketers. Some argue for new, invasive laws and government mandates to protect our privacy. But why ...

AT& T revealed it may implement a pay plan that would force providers of mobile services to pay for the cost of data usage associated with streaming movies and smartphone applications. The announcement is perceived by industry analysts as indicating the company believes a U.S. District Court will overturn the Federal Communications ...

In a late-February filing, Verizon requested Federal Communications Commission approval of a $4 billion purchase of cable company wireless-spectrum licenses. In a separate FCC filing, Verizon requested permission to enter into cross-licensing agreements with the cable companies to sell each other’s services. Public Knowledge, a Washington ...

No one knows when the United States will run out of wireless spectrum, but many in the industry agree a crunch is coming. According to Federal Communications Commission estimates, the nation currently has a slight spectrum surplus, but it will turn into a deficit as early as next year. When spectrum runs short, service will ...

A Federal Communications Commission study concluding Missouri is below the national average in broadband Internet access has been refuted by a subsequent study conducted by the Missouri Public Service Commission. The FCC reported 86.5 percent of Missouri has access to broadband, with 11 percent to 13.5 percent of the population ...

The Stop Online Piracy Act and its counterpart in the Senate, the PROTECT IP Act, have gotten a lot of attention from Internet users in the past few months. Most of this attention has come in the form of opposition. Indeed, outcry against these bills has come from digital rights groups as diverse as human rights activists ...

National public interest groups, media companies, and legislators are joining forces to push the Federal Communications Commission to end its sports blackout rule. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called for the FCC to eliminate the rule. “In order to facilitate a conversation on sports blackouts and sports programming, I urge the ...

In response to complaints in Oklahoma and other states from both telephone customers and service providers regarding problems with completion of telephone calls, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has requested the Federal Communications Commission address the so-called “call termination” problems. The OCC joined public officials ...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced in October the wireless industry trade association, CTIA, has agreed to advise its member companies to provide consumers with alert notifications when they exceed their monthly limit on wireless minutes, text, or data or will incur charges for international roaming ...

Navigating the social media can be tricky for both employers and the people they hire. For example, determining whether it’s lawful to terminate an ambulance service employee who called her supervisor a “scumbag” on Facebook may seem a no-brainer for some employers, but this real-life situation could present an intense dilemma ...

Mobile applications, commonly referred to as “apps,” can be enjoyed with just the touch of a screen and are often effortless to download. However, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) current thinkingmight change all that for a specific subset of mobile apps. On July 21, the FDA issued its “Draft Guidance for Industry ...

On August 26 the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the Boston police for arresting a man who recorded their brutal treatment of a teenager. The ruling is only one stage of an important lawsuit, but it may have sweeping consequences for two concepts crucial to civil liberties ...

Imagine that some lobbyists have staked out part of Antarctica and brought suit in federal court against tourists who trespassed on “their” land. Fine, you say: After all, the lobbyists got there first. Replace “Antarctica” with “ideas,” however, and you have the surreal world of “intellectual property.” In the 1998 case State ...

The Salt Lake City Deseret News reported this past July that WingCash is seeking regulatory approval in several states. The Utah-based WingCash is the latest Internet currency attempting to circumvent the 3 percent transaction costs charged by credit card companies for online purchases. Online currencies are gaining traction despite ...

On July 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit overturned a 2008 Federal Communications Commission regulation allowing greater same-city media market cross-ownership. The court, citing a lack of sufficient time for public opinion and notice, called for the issue to be restudied by the FCC. “In the U.S., while no single company ...

Draft legislation introduced this July by Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) would mandate the Federal Communications Commission auction a variety of electronic spectrum bands within 10 years. Walden’s legislation would scuttle current FCC plans for portions of the 700 MHz spectrum ...

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment about proposed revisions to its guidance to businesses about online advertising. In its May 26 statement the FTC said modifications to its “Dot Com Disclosures: Information About Online Advertising” should reflect the dramatic changes in the online world since its first publication ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of AT& T in allowing a case to go to individual arbitration instead of being filed as a class action. The Court’s ruling in AT& T Mobility v. Concepcion determined the Federal Arbitration Act preempts California law allowing consumers to seek damages as a class. The majority 5-4 opinion ...

Washington lawmakers continue to grapple with the potential interference to global positioning satellites posed by provider LightSquared’s long-term-evolution terrestrial wireless broadband network. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has stated the FCC will not allow LightSquared to launch commercially until ...

Review of Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google, Inc., by Scott Cleland with Ira Brodsky, Telescope Books, St. Louis, Missouri, 2011, ISBN-10: 0980038324, $28.95, 329 pages. Even paranoiacs have real enemies, goes the adage. I’m inclined to agree, especially after reading Search & Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google, Inc ...