Frankston on the FCC

Bob Frankston has a clear and provocative article on what needs to change at the FCC. Here’s a taste:

The real tragedy is that the FCC’s existence and mandate has created an artificial and unnecessary chokepoint in the first mile of connectivity. Those whose businesses are premised on the 1934 assumptions of scarcity have control over this connectivity and have an inherent conflict of interest. If they enlarge the commons they lose the scarcity that defines their businesses.

By locking the concept of spectrum allocation into legislation we have taken what is an essentially unlimited capacity for wireless communications and have treated it like property with exclusive ownership and thus minimizes the potential value and societal benefit.

These practices take potentially unlimited resources and create scarcity. And this artificial scarcity gives the FCC and those it charters an extraordinary ability to regulate speech! …

Bob’s proposal:

The first step. Remedy the chokepoint in the first mile of connectivity by applying anti-trust enforcement…A company can either be a connectivity provider or a content/service company but not both. At least not as long as the first mile is a chokepoint.

It’s also chockablock with crystallizations such as:

“The Ethernet demonstrated that one could implement a very simple network without promising that every packet would be delivered”

“The problem is that the entire telecommunications industry is based on the ability to charge a high price for a service that no longer has any costs associated with it. Once you have an Internet connection the phone call is nothing but a fiction!”

Must reading, IMO.

Categories: Uncategorized dw