Save Internet freedom -- from regulation

SAVE INTERNET FREEDOM -- FROM REGULATION
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Larry Downes]
[Commentary] The Internet has thrived in large part because it has managed to sidestep a barrage of efforts to regulate it, including laws to ban indecent material, levy sales tax on e-commerce, require Web sites to provide "zoning" tags, and to criminalize spam, file sharing, and spyware. Some of these laws have been overturned by the courts; some died before being passed; and the rest--well, the rest are effectively ignored, thanks to the Internet's remarkable ability (so far) to treat regulation as a network failure and reroute around the problem. The problem with "simple" regulations is that they never are--especially when the industry being regulated, thanks to new technologies, is evolving rapidly. Good infrastructure management establishes the rules for a competitive market, and then stands back to let buyers and sellers bargain toward the most valuable use of assets. We need that helpful kind of government intervention, not a stake in the heart of a thriving and rapidly evolving infrastructure. Let's preserve Internet freedom -- freedom from regulation, that is.
http://www.news.com/Save-Internet-freedom-from-regulation/2010-1028_3-62...