August 2009 -- Unlicensed wireless has become an industry, with hundreds of millions of radios in use today. These devices range from short-range wireless computer keyboards to microwave links with ranges of several miles. Among the most well known are wireless local area networks (WLANs) often referred to as WiFi or 802.11.
This special issue of info presents a collection of papers presented at a George Mason University Law School Conference on “The evolution of unlicensed wireless policy: how spread spectrum devices won access to license-exempt bandwidth” on 4 April 2008. The conference, organized by GMU Law School’s Information Economy Project, reviewed the development of unlicensed wireless policy in the US with the goal of assisting scholars in understanding how current unlicensed policies came into being. It looked at the interplay between regulation and innovation and examined policy initiatives from industry and from inside the government. It also reviewed technological and market responses to changes in regulation.
This resulting special issue includes papers from several individuals who were deeply involved with the development of unlicensed policy and of standards and devices that operated under that policy.
Citation
"Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference: Guest Editorial" by Charles L. Jackson, 5 INFO (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference.
Related Scholarship
"Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference: Guest Editorial" by Charles L. Jackson, 5 INFO (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Unlicensed to Kill: A Brief History of the FCC Part 15 Rules" by Kenneth R. Carter, 5 INFO 8-18 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Mark Fowler's Introduction of Mike Marcus" by Mark S. Fowler (April 2008), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: The Path from Carter and Reagan-era Faith
in Deregulation to Widespread Products Impacting Our World" by Michael J. Marcus, 5 INFO 19-35 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Unlicensed: The Case of Wi-Fi" by Ing Victor Hayes & Ir. Wolter Lemstra, 5 INFO 57-71 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Grazing on the Commons: The Emergence of Part 15" by Henry Goldberg, 5 INFO 72-75 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
"Has "Unlicensed" in Part 15 Worked? A Case Study" by Tim Pozar, 5 INFO 86-91 (August 2009), Quick Links: Unlicensed Wireless Policy Conference
