The danger of using history to guide modern Internet policy

[Commentary] What should guide the decisions of today’s policymakers when it comes to the Internet? Network neutrality proponents tend to argue that policymakers should look to the values held by the Internet’s pioneers. But as it turns out, using modern interpretations of old values makes for very bad policy. Here’s why. When proponents of heavy-handed regulation invoke the values of the Internet’s pioneers, they paint a picture of noble cyber-warriors dedicated to creating a “free, open, and neutral Internet.” They then swiftly link this to their regulatory weapon of choice, net neutrality, arguing that these rules are needed to preserve the values of the olden days. The problem with this argument is (at least) two-fold:

Our understanding of old values is malleable: The problem is that, as time passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out what the original story was really like. This is certainly true in the tale of a “free, open and neutral Internet,” where we now have two very distinct narratives.

What was right for them might not be right for us: The Internet is a living, dynamic network that changes over time. Today’s Internet is not the same as the Internet of yesterday. What it did for its early users, and what they might have valued as its “open” and “neutral” principles differ markedly from current expectations.

What does this mean for regulation? There is no place for invoking historic values in regulating the modern Internet. Regulation of today’s Internet must be guided by the expectations held for it in the future. The past -- however imperfectly recalled or selectively invoked – is past. Enshrining “old” values will at best preserve a historic museum piece, incapable of responding to current challenges. A better approach is to design regulations – if they are needed at all – on dispassionate economic, legal, and technical assessments of their expected effects on total societal welfare.

[Bronwyn Howell is general manager for the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation]