5.09: Regulate All The Things!

Negative / Visible / Legal: regulations and the open internet

We look at internet policy and regulations as a view into the broader question of the relationship between government regulations and markets. Are all regulations harmful to the free market? Is a free market always the best? How do ideas like net neutrality and local loop unbundling play into it?

Chris said, wrongly, that the North Carolina state government prevented Charlotte from building its own municipal fiber. What actually happened was the state passed a law preventing cities (like Wilson, North Carolina, which with the FCC sued the state but ultimately lost in a federal appeals court) from building out infrastructure to other communities (including rural areas outside the incorporated area of the city). The laws claimed to be in defense of competition; but there is notably no rush to build higher-speed internet to those rural areas.

What do we think is necessary for a well-functioning internet?

1. Consistency and Reliability: or, you should be able to get sufficient speeds to learn or do your job on a normal basis.
2. A Free/Functioning Market for Content: or, a level playing field for all the bits.
3. A Competitive Market for Internet Service: or, enabling (1) and (2) by making internet service providers earn customers.

• Net neutrality

  • Wikipedia

  • “Net Neutrality in the US: Now What? (Vi Hart)”

  • The Open Internet (net neutrality advocate)

  • Zero-rating (Wikipedia)

• Local loop unbundling

  • Wikipedia

  • “Planey Money 691: The Great Unbundling”

  • As an alternative to net neutrality: “We don’t need net neutrality; we need competition—Op-ed:”Unbundled access" actually works.“

• The FCC vs. North Carolina and Tennessee on municipal ISPs offering service to neighboring communities

• Cell phone competition:

  • The big four in the United States: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile

  • MVNOs: Wikipedia
    • Cricket
    • Ting
    • Republic Wireless

• Previously on the show:

  • 4.12: Five Years of Facepalming – The EU and internet law—monopolies, copyright, taxing, freedom of speech, and learning from each other.

  • 5.07: Books, The Internet, and Homeless People – Positive / Invisible / Legal (Organized): public libraries and the common good

• “Jep Shuffle” by Holy ’57. Used by permission.
• “Winning Slowly Theme” by Chris Krycho.

Many thanks to the people who help us make this show possible by their financial support! This month’s sponsors:

• Andrew Fallows
• Kurt Klassen
• Jeremy Cherfas
• Jeremy W. Sherman

If you’d like to support the show, you can make a pledge at Patreon or give directly via Square Cash.

We love to hear your thoughts. Hit us up via Twitter, Facebook, or email!