A Truly ‘Open Internet’ Would Be Free of Burdensome FCC Regulation

[Commentary] Don’t believe the arguments pushed by ‘network neutrality’ activists: The government does more harm than good by interfering in the World Wide Web. Any student of Federal Communications Commission history knows roughly how this story will end if the rules are not repealed. The dominant Web and Internet providers will muddle through, perhaps more profitable but also more sclerotic and risk-averse. Their armies of attorneys, many of whom used to work at the FCC, will closely read the thousands of pages of orders, declaratory rulings, and press releases to anticipate shifting legal winds. Smaller providers and mom-and-pop tech startups, focused on customers and services rather than compliance, will be left in the dark.

[Brent Skorup is an attorney and a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University]