Final Assignment FINAL ASSIGNMENT This course’s final topic, net neutrality, illustrates the ongoing debate over the government’s role in the regulation of the internet marketplace. The evolving discussion of net neutrality brings into to focus the conflicting perspectives on the federal government’s role in promoting (1) consumer protection and (2) regulation-free commerce. In 2013, Maureen Ohlhausen, Acting Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, asserted: As we move forward into a new age of technological convergence and the Internet of things, we cannot fall into the trap of legislating or regulating based on an antiquated or static understanding of the Internet. …. Instead, we should follow flexible, normative, and cautious enforcement of the competition and consumer protection laws coupled with self-regulation by open, consensusbased, multi-stakeholder organizations of engineers, consumer groups, and businesspeople.[1] This quote recognizes that while regulation is necessary, government regulation must both protect consumers and competition. At the same time, it posits that self-regulation needs to operate through sectoral consensus rather than through centralized governance. In 2015, the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman, Ajit Pai, stated Indeed, economists have long understood innovative business models like [the current internet service plans] are good for consumers because they give them more choices and lower prices. To apply outmoded economic thinking to the Internet marketplace would just hurt consumers, especially the middle-class and low-income Americans who are the biggest beneficiaries of these plans.[2] The FCC later incorporated Pai’s position in its Restoring Internet Freedom Order adopted on December 14, 2017 and effective on June 11, 2018. This order effectively repealed net neutrality. In so doing, the FCC supported a shift of regulatory power from the federal government to the private market. The FCC’s decision remains highly contentious. As a result, many commentators believe that the issue of net neutrality will be decided by courts if federal legislation does not overrule the FCC’s 2017 order. As shown in the observations of the former acting FTC Chairman and the current FCC Chairman, this course has explored the source, substance and suitability of regulations related to electronic commerce. At the heart of our discussion has been: Who should regulate: consumers, business or government? How should e-commerce be regulated? Is more or less regulation desirable and appropriate? In exploring these issues, this course has raised the following topical questions: What is Electronic Commerce? What are the Legal Aspects of Presenting and Gathering Information Online? How are Privacy and Consumer Protection Law Applicable to Electronic Commerce and Digital Trade? What Regulations Relate to E-Commerce Technology? What is Crowdfunding and How Is It Regulated? What Are the Trademark Issues for Internet Content and Domain Names? What Key Copyright Issues Arise in Electronic Commerce? What Are Legal Issues Arising in Online Financial Transactions? What Issues Affect the Regulation of Electronic Commerce Internationally? How Does Network Neutrality Impact Electronic Commerce? For your final assignment, prepare a policy paper on electronic commerce that, based on the course’s materials and topics, explores the following: The best source of the regulations – consumers, government or business; The type of regulation needed – sectoral or centralized; and The amount of regulation – more or less than currently in place. This format is meant to be flexible to allow you to organize your ideas on these topics in the way that is most logical to you and that best supports the policies you will advocate using the course materials. Make sure that your discussion is comprehensive enough to show an understanding of and familiarity with all of the course topics. To accompany your policy paper, prepare a PowerPoint presentation to highlight the key points of your policy positions. The PowerPoint should serve as your executive summary. Additional Instructions Please limit the length to no more than 10 pages double-spaced in a professionally appropriate 12-point font. Please limit the PowerPoint to no more than 5 slides. Please prepare this paper as a policy paper with a title page. Prepare the PowerPoint as a separate document. Include a list of the sources used at the end of the policy paper. If you include sources that you have located through your own research, please make a notation to that effect. Make sure that you appropriately attribute the paper’s source materials, by showing quoted language and identifying the source in the policy paper. You should use also footnotes as needed for direct quotes or other heavily borrowed information.  Please note that substantial copying from sources without clear and adequate attribution will lower your grade on this assignment.  This Final Assignment is due by 11:00 pm on Sunday, September 6, 2020. [1] Maureen Ohlhausen, Net Neutrality vs. Net Reality: Why an Evidence-Base Approach to Enforcement, and Not More Regulation, Could Protect Innovation on the Web, 14 ENGAGE, no. 1, Feb. 2013, at 81, 85. [2] In the Matter of Protecting & Promoting the Open Internet, 30 F.C.C. Rcd. 5601 (2015) (Pai, Comm’r, dissenting), reprinted in James Grimmelmann, Internet Law: Cases & Problems 599, 601 (2019).