Tech Policy Analysis, Deluxe with Cheese and Bacon
Plus a side of pole replacements, space law, the FTC's mission statement, and more
Did you know the Guinness World Record for largest hamburger weighed in at 2,566 lb, 9 oz? That's like eating an entire 2001 Honda Civic or 33 standard dishwashers! Since there are several competing claims as to who created the first cheeseburger, lettuce skip straight to the important questions. Which is better, the Whopper or the Big Mac? What’s the best burger place in the DC area? What’s the worst condiment to add to a burger? Tune in next week to see the… just kidding, it’s the Whopper, Melt Gourmet Cheeseburgers, and horseradish sauce. Do your answers differ? If so, let us know. Now back to your regularly scheduled tech policy programming—you’ll see we’re on quite a roll!
Broadband. On Friday, Jim submitted our reply comments to the FCC on pole replacements. In the drive to extend broadband to the remaining unserved areas, it will be important to remember the added cost of “rip and replace” for suspect Chinese-made equipment. The pole maintainers and pole attachers, two different parts of the broadband economy, also face conflicting incentives that could slow things down further if the right regulatory steps aren’t taken. Jim’s previous comments on the subject are here.
Big Picture. Is the end near? On the latest Tech Policy Podcast, Corbin is joined by Dr. Joseph Tainter, author of the seminal 1988 book The Collapse of Complex Societies. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic—and with the specters of political violence, debt crises, secular stagnation, climate change, and resource depletion before us—the potential for societal collapse is (unfortunately) a hot topic. Is collapse inevitable? What are the signs that a society is on the road to collapse? Where are we along that path? Dr. Tainter discusses these questions and more. Share the show on Twitter here.
Rule of Law. Corbin published a piece in The Bulwark last week on the Trumpified right’s ironic fixation with Roman virtue. A citizen of the Roman Republic was expected to keep faith with the Roman polity. Likewise, faith in our republic and its principles was once a core plank of the GOP platform. It is bizarre, therefore, to watch Republicans (as it were) lose faith in the republic itself. Corbin discusses Josh Hawley (a farcical spokesman for Roman-style manliness), Liz Cheney (shunned from her party for displaying actual public virtue), J.D. Vance (who cynically claims that we are in a “late republican period”), and more. Full essay here. Or read an excerpt, republished by Hot Air. Promote it on Twitter here.
Space Law. Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FCC’s decision to allow SpaceX to lower the orbits of its Starlink satellite constellation in Viasat, Inc v. FCC. Although the court rejected the claim that the FCC should have undertaken a full environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), it did so very narrowly, based solely on standing. Our amicus brief on the issue last year clearly states why NEPA does not apply to outer space. For a summary of that argument, check out our press release on the brief, or Corbin’s Bulwark essay. Corbin and Jim have also recorded a podcast discussing this issue among others.
FTC. In response to the FTC changing their mission statement, Andy Tweeted: “Since 1997, when Congress first required independent agencies to produce strategic plans, the FTC has continuously included the ‘without unduly burdening legitimate business activity’ clause in the agency's mission.” That, though, is not the case anymore. “[T]he new plan emphasizes ‘fair competition’ as opposed to ‘vigorous competition’ in the previous plan. Admittedly, this is a small semantic distinction. But it feels related to omitting the ‘legitimate business activity’ clause from the mission.” Check out Andy’s original comments to the FTC opposing this proposed change. Andy explained the then-impending change for the Washington Legal Foundation back in December.
Net Neutrality. Last week, our 2018 amicus curiae brief in Mozilla v. FCC was quoted by the American Action Forum. Reclassifying broadband as a Title II service opens the door for the FCC to impose common carriage regulation on any services that connect to the Internet using public IP addresses such as “VoIP services that do not interconnect with the telephone network” and “equivalent voice chat function built into other services, such as real-time, multiplayer gaming” that would impact vast swaths of the Internet ecosystem. We’ve raised “major questions” arguments for years in the net neutrality debate. Check out our initial press release on the brief.
I’ll take 5,000 packets of ketchup, please… and a Diet Coke.