isen.blog

The more I read Tim Wu, the more I like what I read. I think my friends at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute might even agree! For example, in the abstract of his article, "The Broadband Debate: A User's Guide," he writes:

For simplicity sakes I divide the argument to a debate between the openists and the deregulationists . . . I fault the openists for being too prone to favor regulation without making clear the connection between ends and means. For example, too few openists have asked the degree to which the structural open access remedies pushed by independent service providers actually promote the openists' vision. Meanwhile, I fault the deregulationists two reasons. First, the deregulationists have overlooked the fact that limiting government, as they desire, sometimes requires government action. Remedies like network neutrality, for reasons I suggest, may be as important for control of government as it is of industry. I also fault the deregulationists for an exaggerated faith in industry decision-making . . . This is a particularly serious problem given an industry with a recent track record of terrible judgment and even outright fraud.

and

Deregulations and openists, while divided along many lines, share a common faith in innovation as the basis of economic growth. Both sides, in short, worship Joseph Schumpeter and his ideas of competitive, capitalistic innovation . . . I argue that neither deregulationists or openists should have reason to oppose Network Neutrality rules that create rights in users to use the applications or equipment of their choice.

Very smart stuff!

Technorati Tags: Broadband, NetworkNeutrality, OpenAccess, Deregulation, TimWu