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The Digital Broadband Migration: Information Policy for the Next Administration

June 21, 2008

The transformation of telecommunications from an analog, narrowband network optimized for voice to a digital, broadband network optimized for data traffic has created a myriad of challenges for businesses, policymakers, and academics alike. In 2000, when then-FCC Commissioner Michael Powell coined the term "the digital broadband migration," the iPod had yet to be rolled out to consumers and Google was not yet a verb. Seven years later, the iPod has revolutionized the music industry, the iPhone is sending shock waves through the wireless world, and the Apple TV may similarly bring dramatic changes to video programming markets.

In 2009, the next President will take office with an array of information policy questions demanding attention. On February 10th and 11th, Silicon Flatirons held its flagship conference to explore the challenging policy issues that will be high on any new administration's agenda. Panelists represented a thoughtful array of leaders from academic, industry, and governmental circles to continue the Silicon Flatirons' tradition of encouraging "bolder thinking" in Boulder. Please click here for a full list of participants, including Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein (of the Federal Communications Commission) and Jon Leibowitz (of the Federal Trade Commission). Like its predecessors, the proceedings from this conference will be published in the next volume of the Journal on Telecommunications and High Technology Law.

Each Silicon Flatirons Conference is an opportunity for University of Colorado students to listen to illuminating policy discussions and interact with luminaries in the field. Students from CU's Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program (ITP) attended the February conference, and wrote short papers in response. Below is an excerpt from one of ITP's top students, Daniel Holland. In addition to being a telecommunications graduate student, Major Daniel Holland is an active duty Army officer currently assigned to the US Army's Student Detachment. His past assignments include tours with the 82d Airborne and 4th Infantry Divisions and a deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon graduation from the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program, he will serve as an Army network engineer.

Government Regulation for OS and Computer Manufacturers?

In his presentation at the February 2008 Silicon Flatirons conference, Digital Broadband Migration: Information Policy for the Next Administration, Princeton University Professor Edward Felten discussed the threats facing cyberspace and the government's failure to develop a long-term strategy to address the security of the many users of our information technology infrastructure. In many ways, the lack of federal guidance in the computer and network space is similar to the absence of government regulation during the rise of the automobile in the US. In three parts, this paper compares the government's regulation of these two revolutionary technologies. Part 1 describes the threats facing cyberspace. Part 2 compares automobile safety regulation to the challenges faced in cyberspace. Finally, Part 3 offers some recommendations for the next administration.

Click here to download the full PDF version.