Here are some fascinating factiods contained in the FCC’s fiscal 2011 budget request released this week.
February 2010
The PBS documentary series Frontline aired a new program last night called “Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier.” [You can watch it online at that link.] Produced by Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff, the 90-minute special touched on several themes we have debated here through the years including: concerns about information overload and multitasking; [...]
Just FYI… This Thursday, February 4th at 9:30 am, the House Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet will hold a hearing titled, “An Examination of the Proposed Combination of Comcast and NBC Universal.” It will be held in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building and the Committee members were kind enough to ask [...]
The Annenberg School at the University of Southern California recently released a paper by Geoffrey Cowan and David Westphal entitled, “Public Policy and Funding the News.” In it, Cowan and Westphal join the growing chorus of voices advocating a substantial role of government in propping up struggling media entities or investing in news production going [...]
Last week, Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig visited the Cato Institute for a lunchtime talk he had sought through Julian Sanchez. Fellow TLFer Julian discussed the substance of the visit on the Cato@Liberty blog. I discussed the real purpose of the visit as I interpreted it, and Professor Richard Epstein had a comment, too. He finds [...]
Over at Convergences I ponder a version of Mark Lemley’s argument to the effect that confusing patents tied up in administrative disputes are in effect the same as no patents. I write: I recently read “Patenting Nanotechnology” by law prof Mark Lemley. Excitement about (and fear of) nanotechnology seems to be waning rather than waxing. [...]
You can put on makeup while driving, fiddle with your GPS and iPod or reach back to pinch your annoying kid in the back seat, but don’t get caught texting or making cell phone calls. I remember texting-while-driving once, passing a cop, seeing him spin out of his little perch — thinking he was about [...]
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.