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Negative / Visible / Legal: regulations and the open internet

Show Notes

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?

Correction

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.

The Winning Slowly Internet Platform

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

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

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• Net neutrality

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  • Wikipedia

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  • \\u201cNet Neutrality in the US: Now What? (Vi Hart)\\u201d

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  • The Open Internet (net neutrality advocate)

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  • Zero-rating (Wikipedia)

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• Local loop unbundling

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  • Wikipedia

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  • \\u201cPlaney Money 691: The Great Unbundling\\u201d

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  • As an alternative to net neutrality: \\u201cWe don\\u2019t need net neutrality; we need competition\\u2014Op-ed:\\u201dUnbundled access" actually works.\\u201c

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• The FCC vs.\\xa0North Carolina and Tennessee on municipal ISPs offering service to neighboring communities

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• Cell phone competition:

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

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  • MVNOs: Wikipedia\\n
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    • Cricket
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    • Ting
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    • Republic Wireless
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• Previously on the show:

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  • 4.12: Five Years of Facepalming \\u2013 The EU and internet law\\u2014monopolies, copyright, taxing, freedom of speech, and learning from each other.

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  • 5.07: Books, The Internet, and Homeless People \\u2013 Positive / Invisible / Legal (Organized): public libraries and the common good

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Music

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• \\u201cJep Shuffle\\u201d by Holy \\u201957. Used by permission.
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• \\u201cWinning Slowly Theme\\u201d by Chris Krycho.
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Sponsors

Many thanks to the people who help us make this show possible by their financial support! This month\\u2019s sponsors:

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• Andrew Fallows
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• Kurt Klassen
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• Jeremy Cherfas
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• Jeremy W. Sherman
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If you\\u2019d like to support the show, you can make a pledge at Patreon or give directly via Square Cash.

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