Innovation and Legislation: Standardization in ... - The Bolin Group

ARCHITECTURE
Dale Hatfield, University of Colorado at Boulder and formerly of the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC), called the audience’s attention to the issue of public network architectures. An
architecture is a definition of a framework (a broad outline) in which a detailed design can take place.
Recent public network architectures include digital TV, E911 and wireless E911, and public safety
radio systems. Who chooses the public architecture from which the standards making activities can
proceed and the process used to make those choices can have serious public consequences, causing
delays in implementation and creating an unfair playing field for suppliers of architecture
components and users.
Choosing network architectures is becoming more difficult due to growing complexity, competition,
and technology convergence. For example, wireless E911 is becoming increasingly important as
people trade in their LAN lines for wireless—eliminating the ability to track the location of incoming
emergency calls. An architecture that enables E911 must take into account 6000 different Public
Safety Answering Points or PSAPs (where your call is routed to when you dial 911). These include
wireless carriers, all the incumbent local exchange wire line carriers, the new emerging competing
local exchange carriers, and equipment suppliers. In regards to competition, not only does it make
consensus difficult, but there is the possibility that the companies involved in creating the
architecture may not always choose interfaces that allow for future competition.
The current network architecture selection processes is producing architectures that are delayed at
best and suboptimal at worst, according to Hatfield. E911 still has major problems, not the least of
which is interoperability. Because these architectures are a matter of public concern, Hatfield calls for
government involvement. He recommends that government facilitate voluntary agreements among
stakeholders using informal processes and that it mandate legally binding agreements through a
formal “rulemaking” process with stakeholder participation. Undertaking this role would be an
effective step in ensuring that public network architectures are sound, fair, and completed on a more
timely basis.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Unresolved intellectual property rights (IPR) issues around the world are creating uncertainty that
directly impacts standardization and thus market economies. Correspondingly, governments are
becoming further involved in this issue whether simply through the proliferation of lawsuits in this
Innovation and Legislation: Standardization in Conflict
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