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Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

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Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#51

Post by livnev »

jacoblyles wrote: post #46
ck2 wrote: post #4

This notion that each industry knows best how to regulate itself keeps ending us up in one disaster after another.

The most regulated industries in America are banking, medicine, and education. It seems to be doing a good job. Meanwhile internet technology is among the least regulated. Someone needs to do something to ensure a vibrant competitive landscape.

Yes, your comment is witty, but I think it's critically flawed. Firstly, medicine and education should be public services, in the sense that their management should have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital. It can also be added that arguably, the purpose of banking is to increase living standards, instead of being a business for those that control it.

Secondly, you're implying that the correlation between regulation and 'success' in those sectors implies causation between the two. Do you really think that the problem with health care in the US is that it's not regulated ENOUGH? Similarly, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you implying that education should be privatised? And lastly, do you think that the success of internet technology is a result of the fact that it has been less regulated than other industries (I'm not saying that it SHOULD be regulated, I'm just questioning whether or not that is a crucial factor)?

If that was intended only as a joke I understand, however I think it's important to think seriously about these things if we are to every try to fix them.

EDIT: typo

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#52

Post by nano111 »

jacoblyles wrote: post #46
ck2 wrote: post #4

This notion that each industry knows best how to regulate itself keeps ending us up in one disaster after another.

The most regulated industries in America are banking, medicine, and education. It seems to be doing a good job. Meanwhile internet technology is among the least regulated. Someone needs to do something to ensure a vibrant competitive landscape.

if the banks and wallstreet had it their way, there would not be many regulations

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#54

Post by MatthewPhillips »

unclenoriega wrote: post #28
spikels wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't Sanders & King almost always vote with the democrats? I would like to see real independents that vote sometimes with one party sometimes with the other and sometimes against both. That would be a true independent.

As for Sanders, given the two-party system, I would expect a senator left of the Democrats to mostly vote with the Democrats just as I would expect a senator to the right of the Republicans to mostly vote with the Republicans. We need more political parties on the left, right, and center, but I don't think limited options makes him a false independent. As for King, he's only got a few months of a voting record, but i…

Left right and center are mostly party constructs. Political ideology is infinitely more complicated than that, but the idea of left, right, and center make it easier to lump your beliefs nicely with those of others, which is necessary for a party system. In reality a politician can be in favor of regulating the oil industry and against regulating the communications industry; there is not hypocrisy there.

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#55

Post by jpadkins »

livnev wrote: post #51
jacoblyles wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most regulated industries in America are banking, medicine, and education. It seems to be doing a good job. Meanwhile internet technology is among the least regulated. Someone needs to do something to ensure a vibrant competitive landscape.

Yes, your comment is witty, but I think it's critically flawed. Firstly, medicine and education should be public services, in the sense that their management should have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital. It can also be added that arguably, the purpose of banking is to increase living standards, instead of being a business for those that control it. Secondl…

Using your logic, shouldn't access to knowledge and information (the internet) be a public service too? Shouldn't management have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital apply to internet as well?

The logic behind the reasoning for healthcare, education, banking, telcom being heavily regulated is extremely flawed. The real reason those sectors are heavily regulated is so they can lock in profits with little effort.

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#56

Post by cpursley »

jpadkins wrote: post #55
livnev wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, your comment is witty, but I think it's critically flawed. Firstly, medicine and education should be public services, in the sense that their management should have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital. It can also be added that arguably, the purpose of banking is to increase living standards, instead of being a business for those that control it. Secondl…

Using your logic, shouldn't access to knowledge and information (the internet) be a public service too? Shouldn't management have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital apply to internet as well? The logic behind the reasoning for healthcare, education, banking, telcom being heavily regulated is extremely flawed. The real reason those sectors are heavily regulat…

"The real reason those sectors are heavily regulated is so they can lock in profits with little effort."

Exactly, how do so many people miss this?

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#57

Post by livnev »

jpadkins wrote: post #55
livnev wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, your comment is witty, but I think it's critically flawed. Firstly, medicine and education should be public services, in the sense that their management should have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital. It can also be added that arguably, the purpose of banking is to increase living standards, instead of being a business for those that control it. Secondl…

Using your logic, shouldn't access to knowledge and information (the internet) be a public service too? Shouldn't management have the imperative of increasing living conditions for the populace rather than generating capital apply to internet as well? The logic behind the reasoning for healthcare, education, banking, telcom being heavily regulated is extremely flawed. The real reason those sectors are heavily regulat…

The internet is more than access to knowledge and information, and I agree that the sectors responsible for knowledge and information should have the imperative of increasing living conditions, and not generating capital. This is why Wikipedia should not be a business; this is why universities should not be businesses and this why they should receive tax dollars. Note however, that whether or not they should be regulated is a totally different matter. I was questioning the notion that the problem with banking, medicine, and education in the US is excessive regulation.

On the other hand, companies like Amazon and Facebook have little to do with broadening access to knowledge and information (barring the latter in a trivial sense of the word), and are oriented towards generating capital, so I don't think the rhetorical questions that you open with are applicable here.

I'd like to hear you elaborate on why the reasoning for regulation is flawed in the cases of healthcare, education, banking, telecom.

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#58

Post by mseebach »

Qualman wrote: post #43
mseebach wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a lobbyist, he headed the National Cable Television Association, and later the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. Why might cable TV operators, cell operators and Internet providers would pay someone good money to lobby for more government regulation? What business purpose could that possibly serve?

These are irrelevant questions, as the article specifically states that he is in support of regulation: "...Tom Wheeler, appeared open in 2011 to letting wireless giant AT&T Inc. acquire T-Mobile USA...But he had a price. In exchange for a $39 billion merger, AT&T would have had to agree to a slew of new regulations, according to an idea Mr. Wheeler laid out at the time on his personal blog." If you dig into said per…

My point is that "regulation" isn't a monotonous scale from "more/better" to "less/worse". The quote and link does not at all answer my questions; what regulations did he work for as a lobbyist, and why?

Industry incumbents frequently use lobbyists to create regulation to raise the bar to entry in their field, cementing their own position and stifling competition - creating the kinds of complacent mono/doupolies that we know so well from cable companies and ISPs.

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#59

Post by rayiner »

jacoblyles wrote: post #46
ck2 wrote: post #4

This notion that each industry knows best how to regulate itself keeps ending us up in one disaster after another.

The most regulated industries in America are banking, medicine, and education. It seems to be doing a good job. Meanwhile internet technology is among the least regulated. Someone needs to do something to ensure a vibrant competitive landscape.

America has the world's preeminent financial sector and medical sector, and when you adjust for demographics its K12 education sector is in line with that of western European countries, while its university system is again preeminent in the world.

The situation in the US is not quality, but access. But the same phenomenon exists for internet technology (e.g. The digital divide).

Re: Obama to Name Tom Wheeler, a Former Lobbyist, to Head FCC

#60

Post by rayiner »

mseebach wrote: post #37
kalleboo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be an interesting experiment - fully unregulated airwaves. Imagine AT&T jamming Verizon's 3G signal, private transmitter hijacking terminals, etc.

Well, in the jamming case, Verizon would probably jam AT&T back. So neither is getting any revenue, and they are left to work out a truce or face bankruptcy. There exists swathes of practically unlicensed spectrum, such as ham radio and 2.4GHz. While regulation exists, large scale enforcement is pretty much unheard of, yet it works pretty well. The big cellular telecom standards (GSM and CDMA) assume a very orderly e…

2.4 GHZ are regulated in the only dimension that matters for spectrum: power output. And unlicensed devices are all inspected and approved by the FCC.
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