There are MANY downsides to Big Government hyper-over-activity.
One HUGE one? Big Gov does things it shouldn’t be doing – at the expense of the things it should be doing.
To wit: The World Wide Web – and the federal government leading it in exactly the wrong direction.
The Joe Biden Administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is illegally engaging in several really stupid, massively expansive power grabs of the Internet and how it works.
The hugest of which will turn the Web into something MUCH smaller – that doesn’t work NEARLY as well as it currently does.
The Web is an omnidirectional network of titanic amounts of data – racing all over the place.
The FCC is imposing what is called Title II – a massive regulatory scheme that dates all the way back to 1887 railroad law.
As you can probably guess – this is moronic. Squeezing the infinite Internet network – into binary railway law? Will egregiously shrink and damage the Internet.
You can probably guess why the government would want to do this. The Internet has grown WAY beyond its ability to entirely control it.
(Though through Big Gov’s crony partnership with Big Tech – they are doing extraordinarily well as it is.)
And while Big Gov is doing things to shrink the Internet – they are shirking their actual responsibility of helping it grow.
Which for them is almost certainly a feature – not a bug.
To wit: The future of the Internet – is wireless.
Digging trenches and laying cables to wire each individual Internet-seeking recipient – is EXPENSIVE. And, of course, immobile.
The rapidly advancing wireless technology – is quickly rendering door-to-door wired Internet obsolete.
Your cell phone has already for years been seamlessly streaming High Definition (HD) video – the most bandwidth-intensive thing there is to do on the Web.
And satellite Internet is quickly growing as a thing.
Cellular delivers nigh unlimited mobility – and ubiquity. Satellite delivers unlimited ubiquity.
Thanks to this wireless combo – rural non-connections have become a vanishing problem.
And thanks to the inevitable harmonic convergence of the two technologies – things are only getting better….
From Space to Earth: Satellite Integration for 5G:
“5G is the fifth generation of cellular networks which will bring new opportunities for people, businesses and corporations through faster speed, higher traffic capacity, low-latency communications and enhanced positioning….
“Satellites can have a key role in the deployment of 5G services, owing to its inherent attributes of coverage (reaching where terrestrial networks are not deployed), resilience (independence from terrestrial networks), security and capacity.
“The deployment of terrestrial 5G is expected to be gradual and focused on high-density population and traffic areas (large cities, campuses, highways, high-speed rail networks), while satellites can cover large areas with uniform level of service.”
What do both cellular and satellite use to deliver their magic? Spectrum.
Of what do both cellular and satellite need MUCH more? Spectrum.
What’s spectrum? Glad you asked…:
“Spectrum is the airwaves – used for everything wireless. From your cell phone – all the way down to your car key fob.
“Not all spectrum is created equal. Think of it like a Monopoly board. Some of it is Boardwalk and Park Place – some is Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues. And everywhere in between.
“And spectrum – is a finite resource. There’s only so much to go around.
“And the federal government – holds a LOT of it. Including a lot of the really good stuff.
“So a FUNDAMENTAL component of US policy – must be getting as much spectrum as rapidly as possible to the private sector.”
Except the US government is too busy illegally shrinking the Internet – to fulfill its obligation to help expand it.
Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Authority:
“Nearly 10 months have passed since the Federal Communications Commission lost its authority to auction off fresh spectrum licenses on March 9, 2023. Further, there are no available bands in the nation’s spectrum pipeline.
“This prolonged situation has raised industry concerns about the future of 5G….
“The last time the federal government freed up spectrum for commercial use was…under Republican FCC chief Ajit Pai in 2020.”
That’s approaching FOUR YEARS since the last spectrum infusion.
Which is about FOUR HUNDRED in Internet years.
The FCC should be demanding Congress reauthorize its spectrum authority – so it can help the private sector continue growing the Internet.
Instead, the FCC is too busy power-grabbing the Internet – to shrink it.
Which, by the way, Congress has never authorized it to do.
DC – the reverse barometer of…everything.
What a great place it continues to be.