The Future of “Fair and Balanced”: The Fairness Doctrine, Net Neutrality, and the Internet

In recent months, different groups--pundits, politicians, and even an FCC Commissioner--have discussed resurrecting the now-defunct Fairness Doctrine and applying it to Internet communication. This iBrief responds to the novel application of the Doctrine to the Internet in three parts. First, this iBrief will review the history and legal rationale that supported the Fairness Doctrine, with a particular emphasis on emerging technologies. Second, this iBrief applies these legal arguments to the evolving structure of the Internet. Third, this iBrief will consider what we can learn about Net Neutrality through an analogy to the Fairness Doctrine. This iBrief concludes that, while the Fairness Doctrine is not appropriate to use on the Internet in its present form, the arguments for the Doctrine could affect the debate surrounding Net Neutrality, depending on how the Obama Administration implements Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality: Smart Cables or Dumb Pipes? An overview on the regulatory debate about how to govern the network. Research Paper in Law 03/2016

From the Introduction. On 30th April 2016 the provisions of the new Regulation on Open Internet Access1 will enter into force in the EU. This will be yet another chapter of the long debate –some would call it saga- on net neutrality and the desirable architecture of the internet. It is undeniable that the internet has become in a very short time a fundamental element of most people’s professional and personal lives. High speed access to the net is now considered as an indispensable tool for innovation, productivity and development in modern societies. What is more, the internet has proven during the last decade that it is a potentially limitless technology whose disruptive effects can alter almost every industry, even its own one

How law and computer science can work together to improve the information society

In this column, I explore the various means by which lawyers can be helped by computer scientists to stop the (inevitable) collateral damage to innovation when the unstoppable force of legislation hits the irresistible innovation of the Internet. I will explore some current controversies (fake news, Net neutrality, platform regulation) from an international perspective. The conclusion is familiar: lawyers and computer scientists need each other to prevent a disastrous retrenchment toward splintered national-regional intranets. To avoid that, we need to be intellectually pragmatic in pursuing what may be a mutually disagreeable aim: minimal legislative reform to achieve co-regulation using the most independent expert advice. The alternatives are to allow libertarian advocates to so enrage politicians that severe over-regulation results

Issues and Policies for Universal Service and Net Neutrality in a Broadband Environment

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key issues surrounding ubiquity or universal service and equity or net neutrality in telecommunications with applications for New Zealand. This paper in its initial form was presented at the conference "Telecommunications: Ubquity and Equity in a Broadband Environment" held in Wellington 26-28 August 2010.This paper provides a higher-level overview of the issues and identifies key questions that must be answered when developing policies regarding universal service and net neutrality. With the understanding that policies must recognise differences among countries yet can still benefit from international experience the paper will then based on the conference addresses and papers offer some analysis and policy recommendations to assist New Zealand in making informed policy choices

Boden Lecture: The Past’s Lessons for Today: Can Common-Carrier Principles Make for a Better Internet?

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Flying green from a carbon neutral airport : the case of Brussels

The aviation sector is one of the fastest growing emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide. In addition, airports have important local environmental impacts, mainly in the form of noise pollution and deterioration in air quality. Although noise nuisance in the vicinity of airports is recognized as an important problem of the urban environment which is often addressed by regulation, other environmental problems associated with aviation are less widely acknowledged. In the climate debate, the importance of which is rising, aviation has remained under the radar for decades. In the present paper, we use the case of Brussels Airport (Belgium) to demonstrate that the local perception of air travel-related environmental problems may be heavily influenced by the communication strategy of the airport company in question. Basing our analysis on publicly available data, communication initiatives, media reports, and policy documents, we find that (1) the noise impact of aviation is recognized and mainly described in an institutionalized format, (2) the impact of aviation on local air quality is ignored, and (3) the communication on climate impact shows little correspondence or concern with the actual effects. These findings are relevant for other airports and sectors, since the type of environmental communication produced by airport companies can also be observed elsewhere

The legal framework to address “fake news”: possible policy actions at the EU level. CEPS Research Report, 2018

This paper argues that the current policy initiatives adopted by the European Commission are meaningful, but still incomplete. The policy response to online disinformation should ideally rely on: (i) the promotion of responsible behaviour in conveying information to end users; (ii) the enactment of a proactive media policy aimed at promoting pluralism and improving the exposure of diverse content to end users; and (iii) the empowerment of end users through media literacy initiatives, and supports to user behaviour. This document was prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection