Publications

The complete TPRC2008 Proceedings will be available online about one month prior to the conference.

TPRC Proceedings from Previous Years

The published proceedings from past TPRC events are available from The MIT Press, and can be ordered at 800-356-0343 or by fax at 617-625-6660. Proceedings prior to 1999 are available through Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. and can be ordered at 800-926-6579 or by fax at 201-236-0072.

Telecommunications Policy, Volume 29, Issues 9-10, October-November 2005, Pages 685-686 A selection of papers from the 32nd Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

Edited by:
Douglas C. Sicker
Department of Computer Science and the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA
Robert Cannon
Federal Communications Commission, Cybertelecom, Washington, DC, USA

Year: October, 2004
Page Count: 1 page
$30.00*

*price subject to change without notice.

Telecommunications Policy, Volume 28, Issues 7-8, August-September 2004, Pages 461-463 A selection of papers from the 31st Annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

Edited by:
Robert Canon
Federal Communications Commission, Cybertelecom, Washington, DC, USA
Anne Hoag
The Pennsylvania State University, School of Communications, 105C Carnegie, University Park, PA 16802, USA

Year: September, 2003
Page Count: 2 pages
$30.00*

*price subject to change without notice.

RETHINKING RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS Intitutional Responses to New Communications Technologies

Edited by:
Lorrie Faith Cranor
Principal Technical Staff Member in the Secure Systems Research Department at AT&T Labs-Research
Steven S. Wildman
James H. Quello Professor of Telecommunication Studies and Director James H. and Mary B. Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law at Michigan State University

The contributors to this volume examine issues raised by the intersection of new communications technologies and public policy in this post-boom, post-bust era. Originally presented at the 30th Research Conference on Communication, Information, and Internet Policy (TPRC 2002)--traditionally a showcase for the best academic research on this topic--their work combines hard data and deep analysis to explore the dynamic interplay between technological development and society.

The chapters in the first section consider the ways society conceptualizes new information technologies and their implications for law and policy, examining the common metaphor of "cyberspace as place," alternative definitions of the Internet, the concept of a namespace, and measures of diffusion. The chapters in the second section discuss how technological change may force the rethinking of legal rights; topics considered include spectrum rights, intellectual property, copyright and "paracopyright," and the abridgement of constitutional rights by commercial rights in ISP rules. Chapters in the third and final section examine the constant adjustment and reinterpretation of regulations in response to technological change, considering, among other subjects, liability regimes for common carriers and the 1996 detariffing rule, privacy and enhanced 911, and the residual effect of state ownership on privatized telecommunication carriers. The policy implications of Rethinking Rights and Regulations are clear: major institutional changes may be the necessary response to major advances in telecommunications technology.

Year: October, 2002
Page Count: 6 x 9, 456 pages, 13 illustrations
ISBN: [cloth] 0-262-03314-3
$50.00/£32.95*

*price subject to change without notice.

COMMUNICATIONS POLICY AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Promises, Problems, Prospects

Edited by:
Lorrie Faith Cranor
Principal Technical Staff Member in the Secure Systems Research Department at AT&T Labs-Research
Shane Greenstein
Elinor and Wendall Hobbs Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological advance is likely to be modest.

The limitations of new technologies are often not inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of universal service.

Year: October, 2002
Page Count: 6 x 9, 438 pages, 23 illustrations
ISBN: [cloth] 0-262-03300-3
$52.00/£33.95*

*price subject to change without notice.

COMMUNICATIONS POLICY IN TRANSITION The Internet and Beyond

Edited by:
Benjamin M. Compaine
Senior Research Affiliate at the Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shane Greenstein
Elinor and Wendall Hobbs Professor of Management and Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Until the 1980s, it was presumed that technical change in most communications services could easily be monitored from centralized state and federal agencies. This presumption was long outdated prior to the commercialization of the Internet. With the Internet, the long-forecast convergence of voice, video, and text bits became a reality. Legislation, capped by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, created new quasi-standards such as "fair" and "reasonable" for the FCC and courts to apply, leading to nonstop litigation and occasional gridlock.

This book addresses some of the many telecommunications areas on which public policy makers, corporate strategists, and social activists must reach agreement. Topics include the regulation of access, Internet architecture in a commercial era, communications infrastructure development, the Digital Divide, and information policy issues such as intellectual property and the retransmission of TV programming via the Internet.

Year: November, 2001
Page Count: 6 x 9, 440 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-262-03292-9
$58.00/£37.95*

*price subject to change without notice.

THE INTERNET UPHEAVAL Raising Questions, Seeking Answers in Communications Policy

Edited by:
Ingo Vogelsang
Professor of Economics at Boston University
Benjamin M. Compaine
Research Affiliate at the Program on Information Resources Policy at Harvard University

At the beginning of 2000, the U.S. economy was enjoying the longest period of sustained growth and economic prosperity in its history. According to The Internet Upheaval, part of the explanation for this phenomenon is a consequence of how information technologies, in particular the Internet, are upending fundamental economic and social structures.

These research studies explore some of the telecommunications policy ramifications of this upheaval. The first section addresses the complexities of adapting the First Amendment to the Internet, the debate over the taxation of e-commerce, and Internet users' attitudes toward online privacy. The second section looks at how the Internet has changed, or will change, traditional models used by economists, sociologists, and others to explain how the world works. The third section discusses the need for new economic models to deal with the rapidly changing competitive landscape. Finally, the fourth section examines economic and policy aspects of universal service.

Year: October, 2000
Page Count: 456 pages, 27 illustrations
ISBN: [cloth] 0-262-22063-6
$55.00/£35.95*

*price subject to change without notice.

COMPETITION, REGULATION, AND CONVERGENCE

Current Trends in Telecommunications Policy Research

Edited by
Sharon Eisner Gillett
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ingo Vogelsang
Boston University

The telecommunications industry has experienced dynamic changes over the past several years, and those exciting events and developments are reflected in the chapters of this volume. The Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) holds an unrivaled place at the center of national public policy discourse on issues in communications and information. TPRC is one of the few places where multidisciplinary discussions take place as the norm. The papers collected here represent the current state of research in telecommunication policy, and are organized around four topics: competition, regulation, universal service, and convergence. The contentious competition issues include bundling as a strategy in software competition, combination bidding in spectrum auctions, and anti-competitive behavior in the Internet. Regulation takes up telephone number portability, decentralized regulatory decision making versus central regulatory authority, data protection, restrictions to the flow of information over the Internet, and failed Global Information Infrastructure initiatives. Universal service addresses the persistent gap in telecommunications from a socio-economic perspective, the availability of competitive Internet access service and cost modeling. The convergence section concentrates on the costs of Internet telephony versus circuit switched telephony, the intertwined evolution of new services, new technologies, and new consumer equipment, and the politically charged question of asymmetric regulation of Internet telephony and conventional telephone service.

Reviews:
"...provides a good cross-section of cutting-edge policy research in the U.S."
-- Communication Booknotes Quarterly

Audience:
Scholars, policymakers, and business people involved with future direction and policy decisions in telecommunications will find this book invaluable.

Contents:
B.M. Compaine, J.R. Schement, Preface. I. Vogelsang, S.E. Gillett, Introduction. Part I: Competition. D.J. Aron, S.S. Wildman, Effecting a Price Squeeze Through Bundled Pricing. P. Milgrom, Combination Bidding in Spectrum Auctions. A. Briceño, Regulating Anticompetitive Behavior in the Internet Market: An Applied Imputation Model for Peru. M. Mueller, Trademarks and Domain Names: Property Rights and Institutional Evolution in Cyberspace. Part II: Regulation. P. Sringagesh, B.M. Mitchell, An Economic Analysis of Telephone Number Portability. T.J. Brennan, Promoting Telephone Competition--A Simpler Way. W. Lehr, T. Kiessling, Telecommunication Regulation in the United States and Europe: The Case for Centralized Authority. V. Mayer-Schönberger, Operator, Please Give Me Information: The European Union Directive on Data Protection in Telecommunications. L. Lessig, P. Resnick, The Architectures of Mandated Access Controls. H.E. Hudson, Beyond Infrastructure: A Critical Assessment of GII Initiatives. Part III: Universal Service. J.R. Schement, S.C. Forbes, The Persistent Gap in Telecommunications: Toward Hypothesis and Answers. T.A. Downes, S.M. Greenstein, Do Commercial ISPs Provide Universal Access? D. Gabel, S.K. Kennedy, Proxy Models and the Funding of Universal Service. Part IV: Convergence. M.B.H. Weiss, J. Hwang, Internet Telephony or Circuit Switched Telephony: Which Is Cheaper? D. Fryxell, M. Sirbu, K. Wanichkorn, An IP-Based Local Access Network: Economic and Public Policy Analysis. D.D. Clark, Implications of Local Loop Technology for Future Industry Structure. J. Weinberg, The Internet and "Telecommunications Services," Access Charges, Universal Service Mechanisms, and Other Flotsam of the Regulatory System

Year: 1998
Page Count: 320 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-8058-3484-2

TELEPHONY, THE INTERNET, AND THE MEDIA

Selected Papers from the 1997 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

edited by
Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason
University of Michigan
David Waterman
Indiana University

The dynamic changes occurring in the telecommunications industry can be seen nearly every day in the news, from the announcements of mergers and acquisitions among telephony service providers to the ongoing discussions of V-chip application in filtering content on television and the Internet. As the industry continues to respond to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and other policy initiatives and changes, such evolution is certain to continue.

Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC), this volume reflects both the dynamic nature and the diversity of the telecommunications industry. Included here are selected papers from the 1997 TPRC, reflecting the ongoing pace of change in technological, economic, and policy issues. Organized around the topics of telephony, media, and the Internet, these papers represent many of the key issues for scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners. With topics ranging from guidelines for children's educational television to local telephone service regulation to intellectual property rights on the Internet, the coverage in this volume represents the broad-ranging scope of the telecommunications industry and establishes a new benchmark for further telecommunications policy research and analysis.

Reviews:
"...the level of discourse and analysis is as high as ever--this is some of the best work done in the United States."
-- Communication Booknotes Quarterly

Contents:
J.K. MacKie-Mason, Preface. J.K. MacKie-Mason, D. Waterman, Introduction. Part I: Historical. B.M. Owen, A Novel Conference: The Origins of TPRC. Part II: Telephony. F. Gasmi, J-J. Laffont, W.W. Sharkey, A Technico-Economic Methodology for the Analysis of Local Telephone Markets. J.A. Molka-Danielsen, M.B.H. Weiss, Firm Interaction and the Expected Price for Access. D. Galbi, The Implications of By-Pass for Traditional International Interconnection. M. Scanlan, Call-Back and the Proportionate Return Rule: Who Are the Winners and Losers? Part III: The Media. H.A. Shelanski, Video Competition and the Public Interest Debate. A.J. Campbell, Lessons From Oz: Quantitative Guidelines for Children's Educational Television. D.W. Sosa, AM Stereo and the "Marketplace" Decision. Part IV: The Internet. D.D. Clark, A Taxonomy of Internet Telephony Applications. L.W. McKnight, B.A. Leida, Internet Telephony: Costs, Pricing, and Policy. D.L. Burk, Muddy Rules for Cyberspace. L.F. Cranor, J. Reagle, Jr., Designing a Social Protocol: Lessons Learned From the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project. Part V: Comparative Studies in Telephony and Satellite Policy. H.E. Hudson, The Paradox of Ubiquity: Communication Satellite Policies in Asia. R.B. Horwitz, Participatory Policies and Sectoral Reform: Telecommunications Policy in the New South Africa. W. Grieve, S.L. Levin, Telecom Competition in Canada and the United States: The Tortoise and the Hare.

Year: 1998
Page Count: 320 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-8058-3151-7
[paper] 0-8058-3152-5

INTERCONNECTION AND THE INTERNET

Selected Papers from the 1996 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

edited by
Gregory L. Rosston
Federal Communications Commission
David Waterman
Indiana University
A Volume in the LEA Telecommunications Series
Publication Date: Summer/Fall, 1997

This volume is the third consecutive printed edition of selected papers from the TPRC. It contains 15 papers selected from the 24th Annual TPRC, held at Solomon's Island, MD, October 1-3, 1996.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Federal Communications Commission's Local Competition Order are just two examples of the continuing monumental and far-reaching changes occurring throughout the telecommunications industry. At the 1996 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) -- an annual forum for dialogue among scholars and the policymaking community on a wide range of telecommunications issues -- leading industry and academic researchers presented results of their research and insights in key areas of activity, including: *interconnection and competition; *Internet growth and commerce; *Internet regulation and control; and *the political economy of telecommunications regulation. The best of the 1996 TPRC papers are included here, representing the forefront of research in the telecommunications industry. The third in an annual LEA series of volumes based on this important conference, this collection reflects the rapid economic, technological, and social development of telecommunications. It also reflects the current state of research thinking on this issue and provides a foundation for further telecommunications policy analysis.

Contents:
D. Waterman, Preface. G.L. Rosston, D. Waterman, Introduction. Part I: Interconnection and Competition. G.W. Brock, Local Competition Policy Maneuvers. M.L. Katz, Economic Efficiency, Public Policy, and the Pricing of Network Interconnection Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. J. Haring, J.H. Rohlfs, Telecommunications Pricing and Competition. D.P. Satapathy, J.M. Peha, Spectrum Sharing Without Licenses: Opportunities and Dangers. Part II: Internet Growth and Commerce. J. Katz, P. Aspden, Motivations for and Barriers to Internet Usage: Results of a National Public Opinion Survey. D.D. Clark, Combining Sender and Receiver Payments in the Internet. J.K. MacKie-Mason, K. White, Evaluating and Selecting Digital Payment Mechanisms. S. Singh, The Social Impact of Electronic Money. F.A. Wolak, Electronic Substitution in the Household-Level Demand for Postal Delivery Services. Part III: Internet Regulation and Control. R.M. Frieden, Can and Should the FCC Regulate Internet Telephony? L.J. Camp, D.M. Riley, Bedrooms, Barrooms, and Boardrooms on the Internet. J. Weinberg, Rating the Net. Part IV: Telecommunications and Politics. S.D. Ross, Bell Had a Hammer: Using the First Amendment to Beat Down Entry Barriers. G.R. Faulhaber, Voting on Prices: The Political Economy of Regulation. H.E. Hudson, Restructuring the Telecommunications Sector in Developing Regions: Lessons From Southeast Asia.

Year: 1997
Page Count: 368 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-8058-2847-8
[paper] 0-8058-2848-6

THE INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY

Selected Papers from the 1995 Telecommunications Policy and Research Conference

edited by
Gerald W. Brock
George Washington University
Gregory L. Rosston
Federal Communications Commission
A Volume in the LEA Telecommunications Series

This book is based on the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference which reports on research into telecommunications policy issues. While the conference is now a respectable 23 years old, this is only the second printed edition of selected papers. A new law, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, accelerated the process of integration in the communication industry and made major revisions to the Communications Act of 1934 that increase the incentive for integration within the industry. Although the papers in this volume were written prior to the passage of the new law, their importance is merely enhanced by it. They deal with fundamental, complex policy problems that arise when previously separate segments of the telecommunications industry are integrated, rather than specific regulatory rules that are likely to be changed under the new law. With the passage of this law, the timeframe for developing appropriate policies for an integrated industry has been shortened. Changes expected to occur over a period of several years will now likely occur much more rapidly. These papers provide insights to help guide the transition in the industry.

Divided into five parts, this volume:

• deals with problems of transforming local exchange telephone service from a monopoly in each geographical area to an interconnected competitive network of networks,
• considers the pricing problems that arise in an integrated network carrying traffic of different types across multiple service providers,
• examines the problem of achieving interoperability in complex networks,
• considers issues of intellectual property that arise in expected integrated networks of the future, and
• discusses electronic publication of scholarly journals, copyright protection, and the applicability of copyright law in the digital age.

Audience:
Students and professionals in communication and telecommunications, and public and private sector researchers and policymakers.

Contents:
D. Reed, Foreword. G. Rosston, G. Brock, Introduction. Part I: Local Competition. T.J. Brennan, Is the Theory Behind U.S. v AT&T Applicable Today? R. Stannard, The Rochester Local Exchange Market Nine Months Later. N. Economides, L.J. White, Access and Interconnection Pricing: How Efficient Is the "Efficient Component Pricing Rule?" Part II: Pricing Problems in Complex Networks.Q. Wang, M. Sirbu, J. Peha, Pricing of ATM Network Services. W.H. Lehr, M.B.H. Weiss, The Political Economy of Congestion Charges and Settlements in Packet Networks. S. Shenker, D. Clark, D. Estrin, S. Herzog, Pricing in Computer Networks: Reshaping the Research Agenda. Part III: Technologies for Digital Video. D.P. Reed, The Transition to Digital Television Distribution Systems: A Technological View of Expected Interoperability. N. Omoigui, M. Sirbu, C. Eldering, N. Himayat, Comparing Integrated Broadband Architectures From an Economic and Public Policy Perspective. Part IV: Blurring Policy Boundaries.J. MacKie-Mason, S. Shenker, H.R. Varian, Network Architecture and Content Provision: An Economic Analysis. J.M. Foley, Corporate Free Speech Rights and Diversity of Content Control: An Emerging Dilemma. C. Weare, Organizing Interoperability: Economic Institutions and the Development of Interoperability. Part V: Intellectual Property. R.G. Noll, The Economics of Scholarly Publications and the Information Superhighway. Y. Yuan, S.F. Roehrig, On the Duration of Copyright Protection for Digital Information. J. Litman, Revising Copyright Law for the Information Age.

Year: 1996
Page Count: 328 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-8058-2418-9
[paper] 0-8058-2419-7

TOWARD A COMPETITIVE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY

Selected Papers from the 1994 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

edited by
Gerald W. Brock
George Washington University
A Volume in the LEA Telecommunications Series

Providing an authoritative perspective on the best current research regarding telecommunication policy, this book is based on the 22nd annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. The papers focus on the critical policy issues created by increasing competition in the industry. The book contains a careful analysis of local competition and interconnection, international competition, universal service issues, the Internet and emerging new methods of communication, and the first amendment problems created by changing telecommunication technology.

It brings together -- in a convenient form -- a wide range of important scholarship on telecommunication policy that otherwise would require extensive research into a variety of journals, government filings, and unpublished papers.

Reviews:
"Sixteen papers, resulting from a conference held in October 1994, discuss the policy issues created by the transformation of telecommunication services around the world from a monopoly-oriented, government-dominated structure into a more market-oriented one."
-- Journal of Economic Literature

Audience:
Professionals in the telecommunication and communication fields as well as economics and public policy; a text for courses in telecommunication policy or economics.

Contents:
P. Samuelson, Foreword. Part I: Introductory Material. G.W. Brock, Introduction. L.K. Ruiz, Pricing Strategies and Regulatory Effects in the U.S. Cellular Telecommunications Duopolies. N. Economides, C. Himmelberg, Critical Mass and Network Evolution in Telecommunications. Part II: Local Competition and Interconnection. R.G. Harris, G.L. Rosston, D.J. Teece, Competition in Local Telecommunications: Implications of Unbundling for Antitrust Policy. B. Mitchell, W. Neu, K-H. Neumann, I. Vogelsang, The Regulation of Pricing of Interconnection Services. R.L. Cimerman, G.J. Waldau, Local Exchange Competition: Alternative Models in Maryland. Part III:International Telecommunication. J. Haring, J.H. Rohlfs, H.M. Shooshan III, The U.S. Stake in Competitive Global Telecommunications. R.A. Cawley, The Changing Face of Transatlantic Telecommunications. J.M. Bauer, The Anatomy and Regulatory Repercussions of Global Telecommunications Strategies. Part IV: Universal Service. H. Sawhney, Universal Service: Prosaic Motives and Great Ideals. M. Mueller, Universal Service as an Appropriability Problem: A New Framework for Analysis. H.E. Hudson, Access to Telecommunications in the Developing World: Ten Years After the Maitland Report. Part V: The Internet and the NII. P. Srinagesh, Internet Cost Structures and Interconnection Agreements. M.S. Blumenthal, Realizing the Information Future: Technology, Economics, and the Open Data Network. P. Resnick, R. Zeckhauser, C. Avery, Roles for Electronic Brokers. Part VI: The First Amendment and Changing Technology. T.J. Brennan, Game Theory and the First Amendment: Strategic Considerations and Freedom of the Press. R. Corn-Revere, Lost on the Infobahn Without a Map: The Need for a Coherent First Amendment Approach.

Year: 1995
Page Count: 400 pages
ISBN: [cloth] 0-8058-2030-2
[paper] 0-8058-2031-0