FCC Chairman Powell has a blog

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[It is nice to a regulator and policy maker use the machinery of modern
telecom and Internet. Some excerpts from opening text from Powell's Blog --
BSA]


Michael K. Powell
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
AlwaysOn Blog
July 7, 2004

Traditionally, the economic justification for government regulation of an
industry was market failure such as monopoly, negative externalities, or
unmet social goals. Government's role in the marketplace should be limited
because markets and entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions far more
efficiently than regulators can. This is the principle behind opening the
communications sector to competition. I am particularly mindful of this
principle as new competitive services-VoIP, for example-become viable
alternatives for customers.

Un- or less-regulated competition has been a hard pill to swallow for most
incumbents (as well as many regulators) who legitimately question the
regulatory disparity between themselves and startups. But the correct answer
is not to regulate new firms the same way incumbents have traditionally been
regulated. The answer is to "regulate down" as markets become competitive.
Specific market failures that arise, if any, should be addressed with
targeted and specific remedies. My policy toward regulating nascent
communications services is thus self-reinforcing: for example, a light
regulatory touch can bring VoIP services to market faster and the
competitive effects, in turn, allow us to deregulate traditional service
providers.

The high-tech community traditionally shied away from regulatory debates at
the FCC and state regulatory commissions. Perhaps staying off regulators'
radar screens has served entrepreneurs well in the past. Unfortunately, the
era of salutary neglect is coming to an end. As regulators get involved in
issues such as VoIP affecting high-tech industries, the collateral damage
can be significant. As technologies, services, and legal policies converge,
it is critical that the high-tech community understand the issues and engage
them.

One reason I am participating in AlwaysOn Network's blog is to hear from the
tech community directly and to try to get beyond the traditional inside the
Beltway Washington world where lobbyists filter the techies. I am looking
forward to an open, transparent and meritocracy-based
communication-attributes that bloggers are famous for! Regulated interests
have about an 80 year head start on the entrepreneurial tech community when
it comes to informing regulators what they want and need, but if anyone can
make up for that, Silicon Valley can. This is important not just for Silicon
Valley-it's essential to insure that America has the best, most innovate
communications infrastructure.



http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=4830_0_3_0_C



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