This paper documents the evolution of government-granted privileges, or "cronyism," in the information and communications technology marketplace and in the media-producing sectors. It also shows that cronyism is slowly creeping into new high-technology sectors. This influence could dull...

The rise of the sharing economy has changed how many Americans commute, shop, vacation, and borrow. It has also disrupted long-established industries, from taxis to hotels, and has confounded policymakers. In particular, regulators are trying to determine how to apply many of the traditional...

Public policy debates about online child safety have raged since the earliest days of the Internet. Concerns about underage access to objectionable content (specifically pornography) drove early "Web 1.0" efforts to regulate the Internet, and it continues to be the topic of much discussion...

Satellite radio competitors XM and Sirius recently announced their intention to merge their companies in a $13 billion deal. Recent financial statements show this merger is necessary. Although both stocks grew steadily through October of 2004, they hit a plateau after that and then began a...

Should taxpayers finance government entry into an increasingly competitive, but technologically volatile, business market? The city of Philadelphia has just released a blueprint to provide a taxpayer-backed city-wide wi-fi service, under the rationale that broadband should be treated as a vital...

Debates continue to rage about how to shield kids from the potential negative effects of various types of media or communications technologies. Is government intervention and regulation really needed to quell concerns, or do parents have access to constructive tools to control what their child...

New technologies that allow families to easily tailor their media consumption undermine the pervasiveness rationale for government regulation of content. Both the variety of family programming options now available and new technologies, such as digital video recorders (DVRs) and video on demand...

The Federal Communications Commission should refrain from regulating technical standards in the cable industry. Among two competing proposals currently before the FCC concerning ways the FCC can facilitate development of two-way cable services, such as pay-per-view and video-on-demand, one...

This article argues that benefit-cost analysis ("BCA") is extremely challenging in online child safety and digital privacy debates, yet it remains essential that analysts and policymakers attempt to conduct such reviews. While we will never be able to perfectly determine either the benefits or...

Comments of Adam D. Thierer (Mercatus Center at George Mason University) to the Federal Trade Commission in its proceeding on “the consumer privacy and security issues" associated with the “Internet of Things.” The filing argues that the Internet of Things -- like the Internet itself --...