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Kevin Werbach has written a whitepaper on Sepctrum Policy, arguing that Spectrum should not be allocated as if it were policy, but rather as if it were a boundless commons. These are things the free wireless networking community has discussed for a while now, but when someone like Werbach speaks, we all listen.

I haven’t had time to read this paper yet, but i’ll be bringing it with me to Greece next week, for some quiet beach reading.

If you’re into these subjects, i suggest you do the same (and yes, that includes going to greece for a week 😉

It argues that we should no longer treat wireless spectrum as a concrete physical resource, because new technologies make possible a range of communications techniques that don’t require exclusive control of frequencies. A universal entry privilege, allowing anyone to transmit anywhere, at any time, in any way, should be the policy baseline. A set of backstops and safe harbors drawn from tort and intellectual property law can resolve boundary disputes efficiently, without exclusive property rights. The “supercommons” represents a vast opportunity to enhance communications capacity and open up access to the airwaves.

2 thoughts on “Supercommons: Spectrum policy whitepaper from Kevin Werbach”

  1. I had no idea you were coming to my homeland! When are you coming, and how have you planned your holiday? It sure would be nice to see you! Are you thinking of coming to Crete, or are you spending all of your holiday in the mainlands, or some other greek island anyway?

    there’s a slim chance of my being away to the UK for the next 10 or so days, but that’s not definite yet. let me know if you fancy coming to crete.

    funny thing is i had just started contemplating the idea of wi-fi-ing the capital (heraklion) of my island:-) Not that help is in short supply (a friend from belgium is coming to help with the implementation details), but discussing those ideas with you would make perfect sense, let alone all the fun we’d have.

    Come for the crack dude!

  2. Tomas, Can I understand this without a law degree? I just want to know before I spend a lot of time looking up words in a legal dictionary….

    simon

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