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April 10, 2025
Satellite Broadband Competition—New Hope, but for Which Markets?
Last week, Amazon subsidiary Project Kuiper announced plans to launch the first 27 satellites in its 3,000-plus planned low earth orbit (LEO) constellation from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 9. The launch brings long-promised competition in the satellite broadband space for Elon Musk’s 5,000-plus-satellite Starlink system, which, up to now, has…
April 9, 2025
California Finally Abandons Facets of Flawed Social-Media Mandate
Department of Government Efficiency, but the world’s richest person recently scored an important––albeit largely overlooked––First Amendment victory for social media platforms against intrusive, peek-under-the-hood government regulations. In late February, a final judgment and permanent injunction barring enforcement of key parts of California Assembly Bill 587 (AB 587) was agreed to by the parties in X…
April 8, 2025
My Response to the House Commerce Committee Privacy Working Group
In February 2025, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced the creation of a privacy working group to address many of the now-familiar challenges created by our advanced digital economy. Shortly thereafter, the Committee released a Request for Information, inviting expert recommendations for the newly-formed group. I have given some thought to some of…
April 7, 2025
The Spectrum Exchange: Networks, Security, and Innovation
Spectrum management is crucial to our digital future as it provides the invisible regulatory framework enabling efficient and equitable allocation of finite radio frequency resources. Without comprehensive, forward-thinking spectrum policies, our rapidly evolving technological landscape will face stifled innovation and restricted growth. Ensuring responsible spectrum issues involves balancing regulatory frameworks that encourage innovation while ensuring…
April 4, 2025
Why Trump’s FTC Firings Matter—Even If They’re Legal
President Donald Trump fired two Democratic commissioners from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last Tuesday, a move that raises important questions about the independence of regulatory agencies. If challenged in court—something the commissioners say they will do—the outcome could set a major precedent regarding presidential authority over supposedly independent agencies. Legally, this issue is murky….
April 3, 2025
The Pacing Problem in Electricity
The electricity industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation characterized by smaller-scale, decentralized, and digital technologies. But transitions are rarely easy. Significant challenges arise as the rapid pace of technological innovation exceeds the slower-moving evolution of regulatory institutions, creating what is known as the “pacing problem”. California, with its aggressive renewable energy policies and ambitious decarbonization…
April 3, 2025
Eight Pathways to Overcome Vetocracy and Unlock Abundance
The recent release of Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson has brought much needed attention to the problem of sclerotic government, especially vetocracy. Vetocracy is an emergent property of institutions where excessive veto points create systemic gridlock, manifested through: While at times imperfect, here are eight practical solutions to overcome this challenge. 1. Refactor…
April 2, 2025
Free Speech Tradeoffs and Roleplaying Chatbots: Sacrificing the Rights of Many to Safeguard a Few?
First Amendment law entails tradeoffs. Consider Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, a case the US Supreme Court heard in January. It involves an online age-verification statute that ostensibly is designed to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit content that Texas deems harmful to them but that is not obscene (and thus is constitutionally protected) when…
April 1, 2025
The Supreme Court Seems Unlikely to Revive Nondelegation Doctrine in FCC Case
Earlier this month, I previewed the arguments in Federal Communications Commission v Consumers’ Research. The case asks the Supreme Court whether the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) violates the nondelegation doctrine, which prohibits Congress from delegating the legislative power to executive branch agencies. As my previous post explains, nondelegation is a largely toothless doctrine, mostly…
April 1, 2025
Another Courtroom Loss for AI Creations, as “Automatoners” Prevail Again
Last month, a federal appeals court confirmed what most legal regimes around the world—patent offices, administrative judges, and even supreme courts—have long held: Machines cannot themselves create. Readers of this space are by now hopefully well acquainted with the fierce divisions between autonomists—those who contend that artificial intelligence (AI) is now or will soon become…