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Internet founder blasts ISPs for hurting national interests
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:50:35 -0700
________________________________________ From: Dana Spiegel [dana () nycwireless net] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2008 4:57 PM To: David Farber; karl () cavebear com Cc: ip Subject: Re: [IP] READ Internet founder blasts ISPs for hurting national interests
The internet is suffering from too much concentration of ownership, I think we can all agree on that. We have too many Telcos, Verisigns, and Googles and too few Brett Glass' and Lariat.
I agree, but...
What we need are not so many rules that say "no" but more rules that say "yes" to new investment by new competitors. We need to open the doors so that new players will provide alternatives to the existing telco and cable TV local copper.
Rules and Regulations don't prevent new companies or even existing companies from making investments or making money. This is a completely bogus perception. I was having a discussion with some folks from highly regulated industries (finance, healthcare, etc.) last night about innovation and investment and making money. The consensus was that taking the position that regulations prevent you from innovating and being profitable is just an excuse. The smartest companies are ones that view regulations as just part of the business operating environment and innovate within and around their confines. Yes, you might not be able to do whatever you want (and thankfully so), but (some) people/ companies/investors are smart enough to figure out innovative new ways to make money even within highly regulated industries. The reason why we don't have more Bretts and Lariats is that the monopolies of the telcos/cablecos are unfairly stifling innovation. Yes, the FCC does do their part in not opening up more free spectrum, but the problem is that the incumbent monopolies are preventing new entrants to the marketplace. We don't need fewer regulations, we need the right ones to prevent use of the monopoly power that telcos/cablecos have amassed. -- Dana Spiegel Executive Director NYCwireless dana () NYCwireless net www.NYCwireless.net +1 917 402 0422 Read the Wireless Community blog: http://www.wirelesscommunity.info ------------------- NYCwireless is a non-profit organization that advocates for, and enables the growth of free, public wireless networks ------------------- ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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