Posted on 02/28/2015 1:09:44 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has pulled the trigger. In the name of “net neutrality” they have decided to assert regulatory control over the vast, sprawling, ever-changing conglomeration of economic activities known simply as the “Internet.” What will the FCC do now? Think of Nancy Pelosi’s infamous statement about the Affordable Care Act: Congress had to pass it for Americans to learn what it would do.
The FCC has bitten off more than it can chew. Its task will be somewhat comparable to that of the old Soviet price-setting bureaucracy in which my friend, economist Yuri Maltsev, once worked. Barely 325 bureaucrats were in charge of setting over 23 million prices—an overwhelmingly complex task that truly was “mission impossible.” The FCC is larger (1,720 employees according to their website) but the Internet, already used by two or three hundred million Americans in trillions of actions a day with new activities and uses continually being discovered is far beyond the capacity of a couple thousand regulators to manage.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at yesterday's vote on net neutrality. (Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler at yesterday’s vote on net neutrality. (Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Sooner or later, under FCC regulation of the Internet, there will be “regulatory capture”—large established firms exploiting regulations to suppress the emergence of small, creative startups. Because it will be impossible for the FCC to keep close tabs on thousands of Internet companies, they will find it expedient to limit the number of participants, finding it easier to oversee a few large corporations than countless smaller ones.
Think of the investment implications here: Who knows how many would-be startups that might have become the next Facebook or Twitter may be strangled in their cribs by FCC regulators?
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
That’s largely my take, though not particularly Google-specific. The codification of specific yet ambiguous language creates the playing field wherein the best financed players will be able to hire the best lawyers and the most connected lobbyists to secure advantages that nobody can particularly foresee at this point. Under the guise of “fairness”, very well-financed players will jockey, over time, to secure for themselves some form of commercial advantage. And in ten or fifteen years, Congress will elevate its incredibly high opinion of itself to produce some form of counter-regulation. NOT take this original legislation apart, mind you, but to supply and impose additional regulations that will, in the name of fairness, make it virtually impossible for new entrants into the field. Regardless of the exact mechanism, just what is the thing that is so rotten about the internet right now today that demands government become and get involved. And finally, if 0bama wants it and thinks it’s a great idea-—that’s enough for me. I don’t want it.
Yes, as a software engineer (Chief Architect) I’m well aware of how things work and what kind of a nightmare they WILL have. I wouldn’t make it that easy for them, there’s lots of options.
Even in the case of having the power to shut somebody (IP) down...this is the point of the article. They would never have enough man power to keep up with people publishing content they don’t like - it would just grow exponentially worse with shutdowns and making people angry. The Chinese have been conditioned to behave a certain way...it’d be a whole other ball game here. We will not behave the same.
I’m not saying they won’t try to do some of this, they’re so stupid they probably will.
OK, I see your point, but they don’t need to go after every blog with 100 hits a day. They are interested in the ones that are providing a major voice in opposition to their political viewpoint.
I hear you...although there’s something we’re better at than they are: innovation. I can only imagine millions of software engineers looking at the same challenge.
There are no problems, only solutions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.