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regulation is outdated.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:
- 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?
- What principles should guide the creation of a regulatory framework for the net?
- What
are the current legislative or regulatory initiatives that could have
the greatest impact on innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital?
- 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?
- Does
a lobbying counterforce need to be created or is there a more benign
way way to neutalize the existing telco and media lobbies?
- Are there specific actions that we can take to influence the outcome of any or all of these initiatives?
Comments:
Please add comments
Reading:
Please add links