Far from it. I just think YOU are ignorant of the nature of government, and it is beyond my humble capacity to enlighten one of such limited vision.
The bureaucrats have always had control over the game. The difference now is that the bureaucrats have to go on record as to when they will say yes. Before this, the answer was simply, "No, and don't bother asking."
Who was saying "No" before? Since no one was "in charge," there was no one to SAY no. And I'M the one who needs to "check my assumptions"???
Look, you apparently are comfortable with Big Daddy Government regulating every facet of your life. Good for you. You can sleep comfortably in your coccoon, secure in the myth that Uncle Sam is looking out for you.
Just remember that the power to license is the power to destroy (with apologies to Edmund Burke).
Why do you insist no one was saying no? Do you not believe the sun came up last Wednesday because you weren't around to see it?
Your libertarian agitprop is simply noise in an otherwise good thread. You don't know the history of commercial space, you don't know the legalities, all you know is the one song that government is always bad and you sing it for every occasion.
This place is full of conservatives and libertarians whose credentials and intellectual prowess are so far out of your league that you barely qualify as a troll here.
Go find someplace else to spew your ignorance.