FCC threatens to disrupt Web free market

As if the federal government hasn't taken on enough challenges under President Barack Obama, now it's promising to fix all of your Internet problems as well.

The Federal Communications Commission voted Oct. 21 to consider rules that would seek to keep the Internet "open" to all users. Relying on a concept called "net neutrality," the FCC said the goal of its new regulations would be to prevent discrimination by the companies that provide the hardware and communication connections that make the Internet function.

What's at stake is who gets control, and who pays the cost. We believe businesses, yes, even big corporations like AT&T, have a right to control what they own and to operate without financial penalty imposed by the government.

In essence, net neutrality advocates say the federal government should prevent any Internet provider from charging premium fees to customers who use higher amounts of bandwidth or require additional resources. The fear is certain people and voices could have a much harder time sharing their messages, limiting the Internet's robust forums for free speech and competing viewpoints.

The threat to freedom of thought is entirely theoretical, as the rare instances of U.S. Internet providers interfering with access have dealt with heavy stress on Internet resources, not with the content of the information involved.

And that's what is dangerous about net neutrality: It would break the normally ironclad link between supply and demand.

"The investments and technological breakthroughs that made the digital era possible were the result of risk-taking in an environment defined by private property rights and the freedom to innovate," wrote James G. Lakely, a former journalist who is co-director of the Center on the Digital Economy for the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank. "If the products of that market process are separated from the property rights and freedom to innovate that made them possible, they soon would no longer be produced, the 'pie' would shrink, and we would all be less happy and less free."

The Oct. 21 vote was largely a forgone conclusion as FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, an Obama appointee, has made net neutrality a centerpiece of his leadership for the agency. But there are powerful forces challenging this move. On the same day, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced legislation would be forbid the FCC from imposing government control on Internet services.

"Keeping businesses free from oppressive regulations is the best stimulus for the current economy," McCain said. We couldn't agree more.