Tech in the Courts—From Railroads to the Internet: Legal Limits on Common Carriage

Originally broadcast August 29, 2024

Moderator: Glenn G. Lammi, Washington Legal Foundation

Speakers: Berin Szóka, TechFreedom; Roger Nober, George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center; Ben Sperry, International Center for Law and Economics; and Professor Blake E. Reid, University of Colorado Law School

About program: This is the first program in a our “Tech in the Courts” series co-sponsored by WLF and TechFreedom.

Common carriage regulation gives the government broad discretion over private businesses. Some want to apply the concept to broadband access and social media, while longstanding common carriers, e.g., railroads, face expanding duties. Our panelists will discuss common carriage, the legal limits on its application, including the First Amendment, and when common carriage really benefits the public.

About WLF: Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is the nation’s premier public-interest law firm and policy center. Our mission is to preserve and defend America’s free-enterprise system by litigating, educating, and advocating for free-market principles, a limited and accountable government, individual and business civil liberties, and the rule of law. For more information, please visit https://www.wlf.org/.

About TechFreedom: TechFreedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology think tank launched in 2011. The organization seeks to advance public policy that makes experimentation, entrepreneurship and investment possible, and thus unleashes the ultimate resource: human ingenuity. For more information please visit https://techfreedom.org/about/.