Regulation Has Momentum
Techdirt has been discussing the Cellular Carrier's efforts to "self-regulate" their industry's marketing practices since spring. Now that the carrier's have released their plan, it appears it may be too little too late. State and federal regulators have been spending the past year getting increasingly focused on the wireless industry, and as legislators they are wont to legislate. The momentum cast in motion from the government is hard to stop. The regulators are said to be looking critically at the industry effort at self-regulation, and appear to be steadfast in their plan to layer on their code of conduct. If the wireless industry had gotten their act together sooner, they may have averted outside interference. As we said in July: by simply reacting to a governmental regulatory threat, industry really takes the "self" out of "self-regulation". To be clear, we are in favor of industry self-regulation, while government interference gives us the shakes. This is why it frustrates us that the industry wasn't proactive, and now has only itself to blame for being the target of legislators.
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