On Fierce Mobile IT, I’ve posted a detailed analysis of the NTIA’s recent report on government spectrum holdings in the 1755-1850 MHz. range and the possibility of freeing up some or all of it for mobile broadband users. The report follows from a 2010 White House directive issued shortly after the FCC’s National Broadband Plan [...]
Larry Downes is a consultant and speaker on developing business
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Blog
On LightSquared and Dish Networks Use of Spectrum: What Would Ronald Coase Do?
March 22nd, 2012
On CNET today, I have a longish post on the FCC’s continued machinations over LightSquared and Dish Networks respective efforts to use existing satellite spectrum to build terrestrial mobile broadband networks. Both companies plan to build 4G LTE networks; LightSquared has already spent $4 billion in build-out for its network, which it plans to [...]
Updates to the Media Page
February 26th, 2012
2012 is off to a fast start, and we’re trying hard just to keep up. We’ve already added over thirty posts to the Media Page, including articles, radio and television interviews, and quotes in a wide range of online and offline publications. There are several video and audio clips for your enjoyment. The year began [...]
What Makes an Idea a Meme?
February 21st, 2012
On Forbes today, I look at the phenomenon of memes in the legal and economic context, using my now notorious “Best Buy” post as an example. Along the way, I talk antitrust, copyright, trademark, network effects, Robert Metcalfe and Ronald Coase. It’s now been a month and a half since I wrote that electronics retailer [...]
How the SOPA Fight Was Won…For Now
January 26th, 2012
On Forbes yesterday, I posted a detailed analysis of the successful (so far) fight to block quick passage of the Protect-IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). (See “Who Really Stopped SOPA, and Why?“) I’m delighted that the article, despite its length, has gotten such positive response. As regular readers know, I’ve [...]
For Incentive Auctions, The FCC Reaps what it Sowed
January 16th, 2012
After three years of politicking, it now looks like Congress may actually give the FCC authority to conduct incentive auctions for mobile spectrum, and soon. That, at least, is what the FCC seems to think. At CES last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski largely repeated the speech he has now given three years in a [...]
Updates to the media page
January 7th, 2012
We’ve recently added another dozen posts to the Media page. These include several articles and interviews related to Larry’s efforts to help stop dangerous copyright legislation pending in Congress, known as SOPA and Protect IP. Larry also provides detailed analysis of a more sensible alternative proposal from Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Darrell Issa, the [...]
My article on Best Buy’s strategy strikes a chord…or a nerve
January 2nd, 2012
My Jan. 2, 2012 post on Forbes, “Why Best Buy is Going out of Business…Gradually,” apparently struck a chord with customers of the consumer electronics retailer–or maybe just a nerve. The post has so far received over 250,000 views and nearly 200 comments, mostly from disgruntled Best Buy customers. I’ve also received many emails from [...]
The FCC Enters the Steampunk Era
December 14th, 2011
I’ve written several articles in the last few weeks critical of the dangerously unprincipled turn at the Federal Communications Commission toward a quixotic, political agenda. But as I reflect more broadly on the agency’s behavior over the last few years, I find something deeper and even more disturbing is at work. The agency’s unreconstructed view [...]
Updates to the Media Page
November 27th, 2011
We’ve recently added over two dozen new posts to the Media page. Most have to do with SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, introduced a few weeks ago in Congress to cheers from the entertainment industry and jeers from Silicon Valley. The bill would make it easier–too easy–for copyright and trademark holders to turn [...]