Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

Pull the Plug on Electric Vehicle Claims

Installing electric vehicle car-charging stations in Atlanta may sound like a good way to invest in the future, but using tax money to support the preferences of a small number of Georgia’s higher-income drivers is bad public policy.

April 2, 2013

Baruch Feigenbaum

Installing electric vehicle car-charging stations in may sound like a good way to invest in the future, but using tax money to support the preferences of a small number of higher-income drivers is bad public policy.

 

An Argument for Equal Marriage

Marriage laws should allow people to shape their lives as they wish

March 25, 2013

Helen Dale

In rebutting the arguments against equal marriage, this brief addresses empirical issues surrounding the definition of marriage. Of necessity, this involves consideration of legal history and marriage customs, as well as arguments drawn by analogy from other disputes. As part of this discussion, it considers comparative law—especially Roman law—and then recounts the uses to which various definitions of ‘marriage’ have been put in social policy debates, including by libertarians. It also outlines why rights instruments may be unhelpful to those who support changes to existing law.

DirecTV's Viacom Gambit

July 12, 2012, 6:17pm

Steven Titch

Yes, it’s another one of those dust-ups between studios and cable/satellite companies over the cost of carrying programming.

Finding Sensible Social Networking Policies for Children

Why online age verification requirements on the Children Online Privacy Protection Act don't work

June 28, 2012

Steven Titch

The Children Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) sets out specific rules and regulations about how websites can gather and use information about children, with the threat of legal penalties behind them. Facebook, for one, finds these rules so cumbersome that, under its terms of service, children under 13 are not permitted to sign up. If it determines that a user is under 13, Facebook will delete the page. Furthermore, if the Federal Trade Commission determines Facebook is not doing enough to enforce its policy, the company may face considerable fines. The trouble is, there really is no effective way of verifying age online.

 

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