A former Clinton Administration official argues in Roll Call that the FCC chairman should abandon plans to impose a jobs-killing government takeover of the Internet. Jonathan Spalter calls proposed unilateral FCC regulations "potentially stifling" and says America needs to move "away from the old-style orthodoxy of top-down government." Spalter writes:
"But for many consumers and technology innovators, as well as for many on both sides of the aisle in Congress, Genachowski's Third Way is a nonstarter. The concern, which is deeply felt by many in America's innovation industries and by the capital and debt markets that support them, is that by resorting to an old-style 'my way or the highway' form of regulation, the FCC risks taking America's innovation economy back to the bad old days of heavy-handed big government, an approach that has proved time and again to be a significant buzzkill for investment and innovation. This is exactly the wrong time, they say, for the FCC to impose a potentially stifling regulatory agenda on a communications marketplace that has been one of the few lasting economic success stories of the past several years, despite the recession, and is poised for a new era of even more growth. However, this growth won't happen on its own and will require hundreds of billions of dollars in new private-sector investment and risk-taking in order to succeed."
Steve Forbes made a similar argument on FOXNews.com today, noting that Democrats' interest in so-called "net neutrality" has contributed to the uncertainty that's gripped private sector job creators. The consequences of a government takeover of the internet, he says, are obvious: "innovation is killed; stagnation and capacity shortages ensue."
America can't afford more government takeovers. We need to keep the Internet free – and we need to keep up the fight against those determined to run it from Washington, DC. If you haven't already, please sign our petitionor join us on Facebook, and tell Washington: "hands off the web!"
