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legal framework


3:00 What would a balanced regulatory and legal framework look like?

How big is the risk of inappropriate public policy?

Some would argue that the internet is inherently global and therefore outside of the reach of any national government. The structure of the online gaming industry supports this view. So regulation may not impact the location the services reaching consumers more than the character of those services. This may shift talent and innovation offshore damaging the domestic venture capital market and local entrepreneurs but not limit the availability of innovative services to consumers. It may also be true that the rational behind much telecommunications and media regulation is outdated. Is it possible that the advances in wireless technology will enable vibrant and sustainable competitors for local telephony? With the high penetration of cable television and the number of new service providers overlaying existing telephony and cable networks, we may already have effective competition. FON’s ability to strike deals with many of the second tier telephony providers in Europe suggests that attacks on net neutrality may never become the threat many fear simply because consumers will vote with their dollars for the carriers that open their networks to innovative services.

The irrepressibility of the market may show up in other areas as well. Landmine patents may become less of an issue as more patents are contributed to patent commons. Open Source software may also reduce the impact of software patents as more innovation is documented in open source creating a paper trail of prior art. Copyright may become less of an obstacle if consumer tastes shift towards quirkier independently or peer produced content supported by something other than metered access business models.

Questions:

  1. So if the answer is that markets work pretty well and given the advances in digital technology perhaps even increasingly well but there are still and always will be market failures, where are those failures likely to be? How should they be addressed?
  2. What principles should guide the creation of a regulatory framework for the net?
  3. What are the current legislative or regulatory initiatives that could have the greatest impact on innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital?
  4. What are the risks that any legislation - net neutrality, for example - will have perverse effects because the telcos and cablecos have more influence over the enforcers through their lobbys than those who are hopefully being protected?
  5. Does a lobbying counterforce need to be created or is there a more benign way way to neutalize the existing telco and media lobbies?
  6. Are there specific actions that we can take to influence the outcome of any or all of these initiatives?

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    Author: Union Square Ventures   Version: 1.0   Last Edited By: Union Square Ventures   Modified: 23 Jan 2009