Wow...you really don't get it at all.kalm wrote:Oh yes…the FCC is a brutal and crushing monopoly! Those poor telecommunications companies suffering under that evil yoke!Baldy wrote: Then you don't know Paine very well.![]()
The private sector is always better at maintaining competition. The FCC is in the monopoly business through it's licensing of TV and radio, frequency and wireless broadband sales, etc., but you want them to be the regulator of market competition in broadband internet? Really?![]()
Paine would have loved the internet and it's abilities of open discourse and idea sharing. He would have recognized it as an important part of the commons and one of the few things worthy of government protection.
The FCC isn't a monopoly. It creates monopolies through government privilege. Much like the government did with the ICC and railroads, and later, trucking or the CAB with the airlines. The FCC, ICC, CAB, as well as other government agencies and boards keep competition out and protecting monopolistic behavior.
Yes, Thomas Paine, the "Phampleteer for Liberty" was a huge fan of government protecting his free speech over the airwaves of the 18th century. So big of a fan that he had to escape England after writing the "Rights of Man". There is little doubt that he would be a huge fan of the government regulating the internet.







