by Rakinder Grover
L. Gordon Crovitz's editorial in the WSJ last week warns of the law of unintended consequences potentially playing out in the current attempts by Internet activists to keep the Web free. The FCC ruled against Comcast a few days ago and is now regulating how the company manages traffic on its network. Crovitz gives the example of regulation of the railway industry in the late 19th century and says that the recent ruling suggests that the FCC sees the Web as a "common carrier", a phrase used to justify government regulation of industries.
With regulation comes micromanagement, higher prices and the stifling of creativity and innovation. When applied to the Internet it could also mean limiting "speech" and the flow of ideas. Proponents of "net neutrality" and free access to the Web should think about how that sounds.
Excerpts from the editorial:
...the Web needs more investment to keep capacity growing faster than Web developers find ways to use it. This is harder as large-bandwidth movies and music migrate online. It will be harder still if potential investors conclude that pricing and network management will be regulated by anything other than supply and demand.
Government's role on the Web is to ensure more competition and more consumer choice, not less competition and diminished consumer choice by turning the Web into a regulated industry. The Internet has become one of the most powerful innovations of our time, in part because it hasn't been burdened by government intervention. Those of us who want to keep the Web free should remember that the best way to keep an industry free is simply to keep it free.
