2013 was TechFreedom’s third year — and definitely our best yet. We’ve played an increasingly vital role in tech policy debates: We speak out against outrages like mass surveillance, but also provide a healthy skepticism about well-intentioned, though counter-productive, meddling in new technologies. Here are the top ten themes that united our work in 2013:

  1. No more blanket surveillance! We’ve been among the leading advocates of reform, helping rally nearly 600,000 people behind the “StopWatching.Us” petition. We joined a lawsuit to stop bulk NSA collection of telephone calls. The Atlantic even published our NSA-themed parody of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”
  2. Get a warrant! We’ve long insisted that law enforcement should have to get a warrant to access private emails, cloud docs and mobile location data. (Check out our handy ECPA infographic!) Our coalition’s White House petition got over 100,000 signatures, forcing President Obama to take a clear stand on email privacy.

  3. Don’t throw the (data) baby out with the (surveillance) bathwater. Many privacy advocates have long demonized data-driven marketing while essentially giving up on the NSA and law enforcement. We’ve focused on the real Big Brother — government — while urging regulators to be aggressive, but smart, about protecting consumers. That means recognizing that data is the lifeblood not just of marketing but of the free (ad-supported) content and innovation that drives most web services. Striking the right balance requires finding flexible ways to enforce responsible data policies while punishing conduct that clearly harms consumers. It also means stopping other countries from using privacy as an excuse to shut down cross-border data flows and block U.S. competition.
  4. Protect free speech. We urged the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to let companies disclose aggregate surveillance statistics. We asked the FCC to stop trying to censor broadcast “indecency.” We told the FTC not to block truthful health claims. We opposed efforts to roll back the Supreme Court’s protection of video games with contrived studies on video game violence. And we continued to defend Section 230 (infographic) as essential to to protecting user-generated content sites.
  5. Net Neutrality. We provided an instant debrief after oral arguments about the FCC’s “Open Internet” order (check out our brief in the case) and explained how the FCC might lose. We warned about the broader implications of giving the FCC carte blanche to regulate in ways Congress never intended, and outlined possible alternatives to addressing concerns about broadband providers’ market power, including antitrust and using the multistakeholder process to craft codes of conduct enforceable by the FTC.
  6. Let antitrust police competition. We’ve urged the FCC to stop trying to create an alternative body of competition law — and to stop using transaction reviews to regulate extra-legally. It’s especially important that the FCC conduct open spectrum auctions so all wireless providers can buy more spectrum to serve their customers — and that the FCC let antitrust weigh concerns about consolidation against the evidence (prices keep falling). Similarly, we warned that the FTC set a dangerous precedent by extracting “voluntary concessions” from Google even though the FTC admitted it could find no legal violation. And we urged the FTC to finally issue limiting principles over its vague competition authority, as Commissioner Wright has proposed. Likewise, we urged ICANN not to invent its own competition law governing domain names.
  7. Update the Telecom Act! Reforming the FCC’s processes would help, but it’s time to completely rewrite 1996 Telecom Act. Do we really need a sector-specific regulator? Why shouldn’t the FTC be the one-stop-shop on consumer protection, including privacy? Why can’t the DOJ and FTC use antitrust to police market power in telecom, just like other industries? Why can’t the FCC at least work more like the FTC? Most urgently, as we explained in Congressional testimony, Congress should gut the outdated patchwork of laws that prop up broadcasters (and thus slow reallocation of spectrum needed for broadband).
  8. Get out of the way of broadband! There’s broad bipartisan agreement on promoting broadband deployment by opening up more spectrum; transitioning to faster, smarter all-IP networks; and making it easier to build competing networks. We urged the new FCC Chairman to focus on these National Broadband Plan goals, as his predecessor failed to do. And if taxpayer dollars are going to be spent it should be on smarter subsidies for universal service and connecting schools and libraries, not on competing with private networks.
  9. FTC reform is long overdue. When the FTC entered its 100th year, we called it the de facto Federal Technology Commission —  in principle, a far better model than the FCC, but problematic in practice. FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen shared her thoughts on the anniversary. And in December, Commissioner Wright kicked off our launch of a year-long FTC reform project. Our lengthy report outlined key questions about the FTC’s future. Our amicus briefs opposed FTC overreach on data security (Wyndham) and advertising claims (POM Wonderful). We’re closely watching the LabMD case.
  10. Don’t block disruptive innovation. We’ve stood up for innovative new companies against regulators captured by incumbents, including fighting the FDA’s ban on marketing 23andMe’s genetic testing kits, New York City bullying Airbnb hosts, and taxicab commissions trying to keep Uber from offering cheaper rides.

We also spent 2013 becoming a snappier, more effective organization:

What can you expect from us in 2014?

  • More events providing a full range of opinions on tech policy — and more in the Bay Area.
  • More specifics about how to reform the FCC and FTC.
  • A special effort to identify and operationalize broad consensus on telecom issues like broadband deployment.
  • More activism — we now have a separate action alerts email list.

What can you do to help?

If 2013 was a year of outrage and frustration, 2014 should be a year of reform. With your help, it will be.

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