Articles by Drew Clark

Drew Clark is Editor/Executive Director of BroadbandCensus.com, a FREE web service with news and information about competition, speeds and prices offered by high-speed internet providers. He also hosts DrewClark.com -- The Politics of Telecom, Media and Technology. Previously, he was Senior Writer with National Journal Group, reporting on free speech, intellectual property, privacy, telecommunications and media for Technology Daily, a leading publication on information technology and public policy. He also ran the Center for Public Integrity's telecom and media project, and was Assistant Director of the Information Economy Project at George Mason University School of Law from January 2008 to January 2009. More detailed bio. He has been blogging on TLF since December 2006.


Consensus FCC Reforms for the Next President

by on September 10, 2008 · 3 comments

I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in the planning and organization of several conferences this fall, including one exciting event, entitled “Consensus FCC Reforms and the Communications Agenda,” which I have organized in my capacity as Assistant Director of the Information Economy Project at George Mason University. Consensus FCC Reforms

You can read more details about the event at the Information Economy Project web site, but the basic gist is that, in spite of controversies swirling over issues such as Network Neutrality, media ownership and universal service, some policy observers believe that a range of reforms may attract bi-partisan consensus.  These opportunities may be more likely to be realized if identified prior to the November 2008 election.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have a stellar cast of participants, including two former chairmen of the Federal Communications Commission – William Kennard, who served under President Clinton, and Michael Powell, who served under President George W. Bush. Theyll be speaking about substantive issues for consensus, and their discussion will be moderated by Amy Schatz, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

But we’ll also be talking about procedural issues — questions of agency structure, rules, and the day-by-day practices and operations to do much to impact the telecom polity. That panel, which features chief staffers for almost all of the recent FCC chairmen, will be moderated by me.

Here’s the full program:.

8:30 a.m.         Welcome by Thomas W. Hazlett, Professor of Law and Economics, GMU

Panel I:           Improving Procedures at the Federal Communications Commission
8:40 a.m.
Peter Pitsch, chief of staff to Dennis Patrick, FCC Chairman, 1987-1989
Robert Pepper*, former chief, Office of Plans and Policy, FCC, 1989-2005
Ken Robinson, senior legal advisor to Al Sikes, FCC Chairman, 1989-1993
Blair Levin, chief of staff to Reed Hundt, FCC Chairman, 1993-1997
Kathy Brown, chief of staff to William Kennard, FCC Chairman, 1998-2001

Moderator: Drew Clark, Assistant Director, Information Economy Project

Panel II:          A Cross-Partisan Agenda for Telecommunications Policy Reforms
9:45 a.m.
William Kennard, Chairman, FCC, 1997-2001
Michael Powell, Chairman, FCC, 2001-2005

Moderator: Amy Schatz, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

When: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 8:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Where: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC

Admission is free, but seating is limited. See IEP Web page: http://iep.gmu.edu.
To reserve your spot, please email Drew Clark: iep.gmu@gmail.com.

About the Information Economy Project:
The Information Economy Project at George Mason University sits at the intersection of academic research and public policy, producing peer-reviewed scholarly research, as well as hosting conferences and lectures with prominent thinkers in the Information Economy. The project brings the discipline of law and economics to telecommunications  policy. More information about the project is available at http://iep.gmu.edu.

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BroadbandCensus.com Joins with One Web Day: Learn About Your Internet Options and Take the Census

by on August 19, 2008 · 7 comments

WASHINGTON, August 19 – BroadbandCensus.com is pleased to support One Web Day, and I am very happy to be an Ambassador for this effort.

Most Americans who have high-speed internet can’t imagine life without broadband. How could you connect to the Internet of today without it? In today’s world, broadband is as basic as running water and electricity. And yet the U.S. is falling behind globally.

As a technology reporter, I’ve been writing about the battles over broadband and the Internet for more than a decade here in Washington. Yet there is one fact about which nearly everyone seems to be in agreement: if America wants better broadband, America needs better broadband data.

That’s why I’ve recently started a new venture to collect this broadband data, and to make this data freely available for all on the Web at http://BroadbandCensus.com.

One Web Day presents an opportunity for all of us to take stock with the true state of broadband in this country. BroadbandCensus.com wants to work with each of you to help us “crowdsource” the data we need to get a better handle on availability, competition, speeds, prices, and quality of service of local broadband.

What is BroadbandCensus.com?

When an Internet user goes to the BroadbandCensus.com web site, he or she types in a ZIP code. By doing so, the consumer will find out how many broadband providers the FCC says are available. The consumer can compare that number to his or her own sense of the competitive landscape, as well as the names of the carriers published by BroadbandCensus.com.

Continue reading BroadbandCensus.com Joins with One Web Day

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A Debate About Data Confidentiality and the Forthcoming ‘Broadband Census for America’

by on August 8, 2008 · 3 comments

A recent post to Dave Farber’s [IP] list:

WASHINGTON, August 8 – I’d like to take a moment to respond to some of the issues raised by the recent e-mail of Brett Glass.

With respect to the issue data confidentiality, it’s important to separate out several issues here:

(1) The names of carriers and the locations in which they offer services, by ZIP code.

(2) The number of subscribers that carriers have in a particular ZIP code.

The Form 477 of the Federal Communications Commission requires carriers to submit both types of information to the FCC.

I agree that category (2) may well be confidential information. I do not think that category (1) can be considered confidential.

The web site that I run, http://BroadbandCensus.com, is an attempt to combine information about broadband from various sources. In addition to “crowdsourcing” data from internet users, we are combining public information from the FCC’s Form 477, publicly available information about carriers and where they offer services, as well as from states and localities. Since we launched BroadbandCensus.com in January 2008, We have had thousands of internet users tell us the names of their providers, where those providers are offering service, and they’ve taken our beta speed test.

It is important to note that Form 477 data released by the FCC does not include the names of the carriers. The FCC recently ordered carriers to begin to provide information on the census tract level (a unit slightly smaller than a ZIP code). However, unless the FCC changes its policy, consumers will still not be able to obtain carrier information from the agency.

Hence, the data we have from the FCC is extremely limited.

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FCC Hammers Comcast For Deception and Unreasonable Internet Practices

by on August 1, 2008 · 13 comments

WASHINGTON, August 1 – The Federal Communication Commission’s enforcement action against Comcast can be seen either as a limited response to a company’s deceptive practices, or a sweeping new venture by the agency into regulating internet policy.

In ruling against Comcast on Friday, the agency ordered the company to “disclose the details of its discriminatory network management practices,” “submit a compliance plan” to end those practices by year-end, and “disclose to customers and the [FCC] the network management practices that will replace current practices.”

At issue in the decision was whether Comcast had engaged in “reasonable network management” practices when it delayed and effetively blocked access to users of BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer software program.

Although BitTorrent had already settled its complaints with Comcast, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that FCC action was necessary because the complaint had been brought by Free Press and Public Knowledge, two non-profit groups. The FCC did not impose a fine.

Martin said that he viewed the agency’s decision to punish the cable operator as a quasi-judicial matter: a “fact-intensive inquiry” against a specific company that it found to have “selectively block[ed]” peer-to-peer traffic.

[Continue reading “FCC Hammers Comcast For Deception and Unreasonable Internet Management“]

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From the FCC, DrewClark.com is Live…

by on August 1, 2008 · 5 comments

…to cover the hearing at which Comcast is expected to be punished for violations of Network Neutrality. Fortunately, the Federal Communications Commission did not start on time. The great thing about the Kevin Martin FCC is that you never have to worry about being late. For example, we’re live at the FCC for the 9:30 a.m. meeting:

The FCC, 9:49 a.m.

The FCC, 9:49 a.m.

I’ll be live-Twittering the event, so check back on DrewClark.com (look at the column on the right – or just go to Twitter and “follow” me) for the latest updates. Later in the day, I’ll be posting a story about the event at BroadbandCensus.com.

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Telecom and Transportation Should Be Focus of Infrastructure Investments, Says Think Tank

by on July 28, 2008 · 5 comments

WASHINGTON, July 28 – By combining better public information, market mechanisms and smarter systems of subsidization, the government can play a positive role in funding infrastructure investments in telecommunications, according to three reports released Friday by the Brookings Institution.

The papers, released on Friday at an event that also featured an address by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, are part of a Brookings Institution initiative promoting investments in infrastructure – both physical, transportation investments, as well as new ways to spur improvements in the telecommunications infrastructure.

“No economy improves with a declining infrastructure,” said Kaine, a Democrat. “Unless you make that high-tech investment easy by telecom access, you won’t get” improvements in your state’s economic condition, he said.

Brookings, a liberal-leaning think tank, released the reports as part of an initiative dubbed the “Hamilton Project.” The project seeks to put forward policy ideas that “embrac[e] a role for effective government in making needed public investments,” according to the think tank.

Read the complete story at BroadbandCensus.com

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CWA Wants Better Broadband Data, As Does Internet for Everyone

by on July 17, 2008 · 5 comments

WASHINGTON, July 17 – Communications Workers of America this past week teamed up with a group of telecommunications companies, cable operators and non-profit groups to push for Congress to pass broadband data legislation.

In a Friday letter and a Monday press release, the groups wrote “to express [their] strong support for Congressional action to promote greater availability and adoption of broadband high-speed Internet services.”

They want “a national policy” to encourage more broadband deployment, and they cite economic statistics about broadband’s potential.

And, as a first step, these companies and CWA want Congress to pass the Broadband Census of America Act, H.R. 3919, or the Broadband Data Improvement Act, S. 1492.

Curiously, last month another large coalition announced a similar campaign. They call themselves Internet for Everyone.

Continue reading “CWA Wants Better Broadband Data, As Does Internet for Everyone“

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Want Better Broadband in America? Take the Broadband Census! (Commentary)

by on July 15, 2008 · 7 comments

The following commentary appears in the current issue of Opastco Advocate, a monthly newsletter published by the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. Reprinted by permission.

Most Americans who have high-speed Internet can’t imagine life without broadband. How could you connect to the Internet of today without it? In today’s world, broadband is as basic as running water and electricity. And yet the U.S. is falling behind globally. As a technology reporter, I’ve been writing about the battles over broadband and the Internet for nearly a decade in Washington. Yet there is one fact about which nearly everyone seems to be in agreement: if America wants better broadband, America needs better broadband data.

That’s why I’ve recently started a new venture to collect this broadband data, and to make this data freely available for all on the Web, at http://BroadbandCensus.com.

The information and news that is available for free at BroadbandCensus.com is more important now than ever before. The FCC has just made important changes to how it will collect data from carriers. The agency may make even more significant changes in the near future. Public and private sector groups of all stripes are demanding, ever more loudly, that government take steps toward a national broadband policy. That cannot be done without solid information about broadband. Finally, many large carriers are beginning to implement plans to meter out bandwidth in tiers and with usage caps. This marketplace development makes the mission of an independent monitoring Website like BroadbandCensus.com even more critical.

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Broadband Internet Adoption Stalls, Regresses for Poor, Says Pew Report

by on July 2, 2008 · 11 comments

WASHINGTON, July 2 – Broadband growth in the United States has effectively stalled over the past five months, a possible victim of the economic slowdown, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Some 55 percent of all adult Americans now have a high-speed internet connection, or a broadband connection, in their home, according to the report, “Home Broadband Adoption 2008.”

That number compares with 47 percent of adult Americans with broadband in early 2007, and 54 percent in December 2007. Hence broadband growth over the previous 12 or 13 months has dramatically tapered off.

The growth rate in broadband adoption from 2007 to 2008 was 17 percent. That compares favorably to the 12 percent growth recorded in the 2006 to 2007 timeframe, according to Pew’s annual studies in 2007 and 2008.
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Drew Bennett Blogging as Special Correspondent for BroadbandCensus.com

by on June 24, 2008 · 7 comments

Over at BroadbandCensus.com, my friend Drew Bennett, who has graciously agreed to be a special correspondent for the publication while he is in New York covering the  Personal Democracy Forum, has been pumping out the blog entries.

Here are some of his latest… just from today:

Jonathan Zittrain: The Impact of Civic Technologies

NEW YORK, June 24 – Jonathan Zittrain, author of “The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It,” took to the stage at the Personal Democracy Forum to focus “civic technologies:” the personal computer, spreadsheet applications, Wikipedia, even the Internet itself are all examples. read more

Lawrence Lessig: The Declaration For Independence

NEW YORK, June 24 – Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig presented his ‘Declaration For Independence’ to the Personal Democracy Forum here today, fingering this problem in the American political system: the perception of a government disproportionately influenced by the stakeholders that fund political campaigns. read more

Day Two at Personal Democracy Forum: What Happens After ‘Reboot’?

NEW YORK, June 24 – “What happens next?” is the question Andrew Rasiej used to start off the Tuesday morning panel discussion at the Personal Democracy Forum here. read more

The complete index page of articles, blog posts, and press releases on BroadbandCensus.com is available here.

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