1. Open Spectrum Building the Commons in Physical Infrastructure _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

2. Physical Layer Logical Layer Content Layer

3. Physical Layer Logical Layer Content Layer

4. Logical Layer Apps Middleware Operating System Free

5. Proprietary software and standards Logical Layer Free and open

6. Content Layer Television, cable, news & commentary art, escapist entertainment Free: Friends, family, co-workers

7. Content Layer Free Peer-production

8. Physical Layer CableDSLSat.Bdcst.Licensed FiberOwned Wireless Free

9. FiberOwned Wireless Physical Layer Free

10. Physical Layer Logical Layer Content Layer

11. Logical Layer Physical Layer

12. Open Spectrum Technically possible Economically superior Better for democracy and autonomy _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

13. Ideal picture Network built entirely of end-user devices Ad hoc architecture, no necessity for fixed infrastructure (but can be used with fixed) Cheap end-user equipment Scalable Mobile or fixed Power conserving, not bandwidth conserving _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

14. Decentralized network over open spectrum _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

15. Technically Possible Working models 802.11 networks Point-to-multipoint Nokia rooftops Multipoint to multipoint _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

16. Technically Possible Working models Two theoretical shifts and one practical revolution Shannon’s capacity theorem (late 40s) Network architecture developments based on the Internet Moore’s Law and the dramatic decline in the cost of powerful computation _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

17. Technically Possible Working models Theoretical and practical shifts Wide band communications & processing gain Declining price of computation allows improved spreading Power, computation, and bandwidth interlocked parameters “Power efficiency” replaces “bandwidth efficiency” _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

18. Traditional Approach to Wireless Communications S > N

19. Traditional Approach to Wireless Communications Interference Licensing for: Distance/power Frequency Time

20. Spread Spectrum Approaches Mary had a little lamb

21. Spread Spectrum Approaches Mary had a little lamb xyz12378965401 20948345987weoirh0120398 Receiver separates S from N by code The broader the bandwidth the greater the processing gain

22. Working models Theoretical and practical shifts Processing Gain Cooperation Gain Ad hoc, mesh architecture Intelligent nodes route each other’s messages minimize power used Emitters self-identify to increase information in the system Each new user adds network capacity as well as demand Technically Possible _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

23. Decentralized network over open spectrum _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

24. Decentralized network over open spectrum _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

25. Working models Theoretical and practical shifts Processing Gain Cooperation Gain The problem is transformed from “spectrum management” into “wireless systems design” Combining processing and cooperation gains enables the capacity of a system to scale to meet demand Technically Possible _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

26. Economics Intellectual framing Licensing vs. auctioning no longer the right question to ask Coase was right for his own technological moment, but is made obsolete by Moore’ Real choices controlled channels vs. decentralized sharing through equipment-embedded protocols Market in “infrastructure” vs. markets in equipment & services without allocated spectrum _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

27. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? Why is the East India Company replaced by free trade, not by “trade-width managers” in secondary markets in licenses to trade? Property must follow a naturally-bounded resource in order to be potentially efficient _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

28. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? East India Company to free trade “Bandwidth” one parameter out of three/four, not a natural boundary High cost of computation fixed the bandwidth usable by affordable end-user equipment, creating “natural” boundary Moore’s law obsoletes this “natural” boundary _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

29. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? East India Company to free trade “Bandwidth” one parameter of three Dynamic utilization of computation, power, bandwidth, and network architecture, adjusted every few nanoseconds more efficient Highly variable demand Fixing chunks of one factor, subjecting them to transaction costs and strategic behavior, will lead to artificial limitation of the set of usable combinations _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

30. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? East India Company to free trade “Bandwidth” one dimension in a three- elements equation Dynamic utilization of computation, power, bandwidth, and network architecture more efficient Property rights in bandwidth inefficiently make sticky, or fence-in, a sub-optimal resource boundary _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

31. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? Innovation Flexible ad hoc network of nodes defined by its edges, not its core (like end-to-end) Internet-like model of innovation, no one gets to approve a new functionality In the equipment market, not the large- scale infrastructure market _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

32. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? Innovation End-users value End-users define highest value use of spectrum use-by-use, instead of spectrum owner guessing demand in advance of providing service Equipment providers increase present value of equipment by building into it flexibility for capturing future value _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

33. Economics Intellectual framing Property or monopoly? Innovation End-users value Security Did the military assume that the Taliban will comply with FCC rules? September 11 th : phones down, Internet up, Metricom nodes revived, WiFi nodes deployed Internet rationale applies to wireless too _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

34. Regulatory implications Stop auctions European 3G auctions largely failure Saddled providers with huge expenditures inhibiting rollout NTT DoCoMo--successful deployment, but tightly controlled infrastructure Owners become political barriers to reform _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

35. Regulatory implications Stop auctions Permit operation of wide band devices throughout wider bands UWB and software defined radios Revising existing bands—like U-NII—to regulate for the benefit of intelligent radios, not outmoded incumbents Permit commercial operation in amateur bands above 50GHz Declare 700 MHz band part of the commons _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

36. Regulatory implications Stop auctions Permit operation of wide band devices throughout wider bands Equipment certification Transitional policy, possibly unnecessary (like Internet) Crucial to avoid reintroduction of FCC close regulation by back door E.g.: recognize open standards set by menu of IEEE/IETF/W3C-like processes _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

37. Democracy & Autonomy Broadcast model v. Internet model Concentrated media & democracy Owners control information flow in democracy; disproportionate power Owners respond to norm, producing bland, inoffensive fare _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

38. Broadcast model v. Internet model Concentrated media & democracy Parallel in autonomy opportunities to shape information available to users if severely limits range & availability of critical options consumers to users Democracy & Autonomy _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

39. Broadcast model v. Internet model Open Spectrum v. Access Rules Imperfect requirements Imperfect enforcement Regulatory defection Democracy & Autonomy _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

40. Broadcast model v. Internet model Open Spectrum vs. Access Rules Only medium available for a commons in the physical layer Even if no efficiency gains, democratic theory is reason to prefer open spectrum except if unsustainable Does a constitutional commitment to freedom of expression demand it? Democracy & Autonomy _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

41. Incumbents paid huge sums to gain access to protected market “Property” rhetoric aligns pro-market forces with pro-regulation forces against license-free based equipment market developing 40 year intellectual tradition hard to abandon Hard Politics _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________