The Broadband Act of 2011: Designing A Communications Act for the 21st Century

The passage of the National Broadband Plan in March 2010, the heated debate over Title II reclassification, the ongoing deliberations regarding the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Network Neutrality, the Comcast-NBCU merger proceedings, and the April 2010 Appeals Court decision in Comcast v. FCC, all point to the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the Communications Act. The last time such a wide-ranging initiative took place was in 1996, leading to a blueprint for competition in local telephony markets, universal service reform, and deregulation of media ownership rules, all of which have had an effect on the structure of the media and telecommunications industries today.

However, it barely addressed broadband Internet. Now, 15 years later, it is clear that a new legal framework is required to confront the challenges created by a national network that is based on broadband. This need has not been lost on lawmakers — Congress recently announced intentions to update the Communications Act. Action by Congress may supersede the FCC’s proposal to reclassify the regulatory status of broadband and redefine the scope of the FCC’s authority.

The Institute for Information Policy at Penn State and the Open Technology Initiative at the New America Foundation are pleased to announce “The Broadband Act of 2011: Designing a Communications Act for the 21st Century” to be held at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, September 28-30, 2010

A by-invitation only workshop, up to a dozen American and international experts will present selected papers and discuss the rationale, needed amendments, and steps to be taken to bring the Communications Act of 1934 up-to-date for the broadband era. The goal of the workshop will be to engage the policy and law making community in a dialogue and then publish the presented papers in an expedited manner.

The submission period closed on July 15, 2010.

Participants