Freedom Line Blog

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski today laid the groundwork for formal imposition of so-called Net “Neutrality” rules upon the telecommunications sector in a speech before the Brookings Institution, and the usual chorus of nanny-state activists quickly applauded this potential intrusion.  The Free Press trumpeted that Chairman Genachowski’s speech was “a breath of fresh air in a Washington policy environment that has long stagnated under the influence of a powerful phone and cable lobby.”  So let us get this straight…  The Internet is the most innovative and thriving sector in American life, but Net “Neutrality” advocates are under the illusion that it has somehow “stagnated?”

Among other things, Genachowski contended that, “if we wait too long to preserve a free and open Internet, it will be too late.”  As if the Internet has somehow been constrained and closed to date?  Tellingly, Genachowski later slipped into an admission when he said that we should “take steps to preserve Internet openness” (emphasis added), acknowledging that it has been, and remains, open.  He later said that, “we will do as much as we need to do, and no more, to ensure that the Internet remains an unfettered platform for competition, creativity and entrepreneurial activity.”

In other words, even according to Genachowski, the Internet is “an unfettered platform for competition, creativity and entrepreneurial activity,” but federal government intrusion is suddenly and mystically vital to its survival? It all obviously recalls Ronald Reagan’s adage that the most terrifying words are, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

As we’ve said on multiple occasions, Net “Neutrality” is a supposed solution in search of a problem.  Doesn’t the federal government have enough on its plate right now without adding spoliation of the Internet?