--- Wei Dai <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > the broadcast spectrum currently used > for television may be worth as much as $400 billion in an auction. How > are the 15% of households who still watch TV over the air able to prevent > this spectrum from being sold for another use?
They should not be able to. The spectrum should be auctioned to the highest bidders who pay for a leasehold franchise good for several years, after which it is again put up for leasehold bid. The annual rent would go to the US Treasury. With a 10% return, that would be about $40 billion. Today, the spectrum holders have a license from the federal government at no charge. But the spectrum legally belongs to the people. So the spectrum holders are receiving an implicit subsidy. The spectrum leaseholders should be free of any content restrictions (other than the usual laws about fraud). That would create a market for the highest and best social use of the spectrum. Fred Foldvary ===== [EMAIL PROTECTED]
