Supercommons
Article: Supercommons: towards a unified theory of wireless communication
URL = http://werbach.com/research/supercommons.pdf
"The End of Spectrum" is a condensed version of the argument in an article for The Feature at http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100112
Description
Kevin Werbach argues that new technologies call for fundamental reforms. He posted a draft law review article that details his thoughts on spectrum reform. He argues that:
"We should no longer treat spectrum as a concrete physical resource, because new communications technologies don't require exclusive control of frequencies. The implications are profound. There is an emerging communications space, the "supercommons," that represents a vast opportunity to enhance capacity and open up access to the airwaves. To exploit it, a universal entry privilege should be the policy baseline. In other words, anyone could transmit anywhere, at any time, in any way, so long as they did not excessively burden others. To resolve interference disputes, we could use backstops and safe harbors drawn from tort and intellectual property law." (http://www.bethemedia.org/2003/10/supercommons_th.html)
Discussion
Boing Boing writes that:
"this paper is provocative, comprehensive, lucid and brilliant. If you want to understand how spectrum came to be allocated the way it is today; how the spectrum auctions of the 80s took place, how the new property and commons models of spectrum allocation arose; how they differ, and what a credible path forward to universal connectivity through the public's airwaves is, you've come to the right place." [1]