A New Agenda for Tech Freedom

[Commentary] With the midterm elections’ rearrangement of Washington, technology policy is a good test of whether anything will get done during the rest of the Obama administration. Technology issues are less partisan than most, but in recent years lawmakers and regulators have fallen far behind the pace of innovation.

Lawmakers can focus on restoring what had been bipartisan support of the open Internet until recent years. That includes blocking any scheme to impose massive regulation in the name of “net neutrality.” Liberal advocacy groups have pressured Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler to consider turning the Internet into a public utility, empowering bureaucrats to set prices and terms and approve or ban new digital products. That would be the end of the Internet as we know it. The government should focus on boosting competition by enabling more providers to enter the market.