Verizon's Idea Of FCC Reform: Let Us Decide
from the we-make-the-rules dept
The FCC is in flux, with a lot of ideas kicking around about how it needs to change to best handle the evolving telecommunications landscape. There are some general trends towards deregulation -- well, except in the case of "security" or porn -- but that isn't apparently enough for Verizon. The company is calling for pretty radical reforms at the commission, saying it shouldn't regulate broadband services, but rather only "respond to complaints". Of course a big broadband provider would like the regulator to go away so they could do whatever they wish -- like forget the notion of network neutrality and block whatever applications they don't like, such as, say, third-party VoIP services. But giving the FCC a purely reactive role would be disasterous for consumers. The head of an ISP trade group wonders "Why within the Congress and within the federal agencies is there so much distrust of our ability to handle a marketplace driven by consumers?" Well, it's mostly because a fair amount of broadband providers continue to screw consumers at every turn.
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Was Adam Smith wrong!?
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The 'market'
You point out that 'broadband providers screw consumers' and the 'free market is not working' to argue for greater/continued regulation. If three anecdotes and your support for Municipal WiFi make the case for 'screwing,' do you notice, in making these points, that you're talking about an industry that is already heavily regulated at the federal, state, and local level? If they are, consumers are being screwed *in spite* of regulation not because of market forces. Your argument, collectively, is: We're unhappy with the status quo so we want more of the same.
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Re: The 'market'
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