Blog: CableCard

Recently, much of the debate in telecom policy has revolved around network neutrality on broadband networks. But Tim Wu has a great new paper about how the wireless companies are far worse. Not only do they practice traffic discrimination in violation of net neutrality principles, but they go to great additional lengths to deprive consumers of useful features and innovative products.

None of these are new, but Wu assembles them into a convenient, detailed list, including:

• Preventing consumers from using phones other than those approved by the carriers
  
• Crippling phone features such as photo sharing, WiFi, Internet browsers, and even simple call timers so consumers can see how much time they are spending on the phone
  
• In the case of Verizon's BREW system, forcing application developers to go through an extensive screening process to even begin writing applications, and then another complex approval process to get the application launched
  
• Making it nearly impossible for applications to use the features the phone already possesses, especially GPS location information

Simple policy solutions could open up the wireless market to innovation without needlessly regulating the industry. Wu lists a set of good ideas. Even just the first one - ending the stranglehold carriers have to restrict which phones they allow on their networks - would go a long way. Without the ability to keep phones out of the U.S. market carriers would lose the ability to mandate that the manufacturers cripple phone features, or to impose burdensome approvals on the applications.

The FCC recently required a similar opening up of cable networks with its CableCard standard, which allowed electronics makers to build new cable set-top boxes with new features and required cable companies to let consumers connect these devices to the cable network without approval from the cable company. I'm actually somewhat surprised that the FCC, so often in thrall to the companies that made big campaign contributions to the Republicans, would

The openness created by CableCard (if it works - the cable companies are fighting it) is a perfect example of fostering competition and making markets work. There's no reason liberals and conservatives alike shouldn't embrace this kind of policy - it's only telecom industry money standing in the way.