Internet Outlook with Richard Wiggins | 43

Do We Need Internet Regulation?

The Death of the Information Superhighway

Actually, some enlightened regulation might be welcome. For instance, the National Science Foundation erred in 1993 when it granted a five-year monopoly to Network Solutions Inc. for management of Internet domain names. The Internet industry response is the addle-brained International Ad-Hoc Committee plan, giving us host names ending in .web, .firm, and .store -- a scheme that will confuse consumers and satisfy no one. Yet it's probably not possible for any Federal agency, no matter well intentioned, to fix that mess. A lot of smart people disagree as to the right solution; more importantly, the Internet is truly global, and the rules and pronouncements of one government are no longer sufficient to solve the architectural and administrative problems of a global network of networks.

Indeed, the President's statement is entitled "The Framework for Global Electronic Commerce." Old talk about a "National Information Infrastructure" has morphed into discussion of a Global Information Infrastructure. Clearly about the only thing one nation can do to promote a global industry is to declare support for free markets, and get out of the way. The Framework calls for minimal intrusion by governments, and for limited tailoring of existing laws where necessary.

What Happened to the Information Superhighway Project?

Still, his metaphor was always flawed. Think for a second about an "Information Superhighway." The closest analogy is the Interstate Highway System, known when proposed during the Eisenhower years as the "Defense Highway System." Now, there was a proposal of grand proportions! It meant serious engineering -- building something we hadn't seen before in this country -- long stretches of limited access highways, connected into a coherent national system. The Interstates contributed to this country in ways we still don't fully appreciate -- with good effects on the economy, and with deleterious effects on our great cities.

Or take President Kennedy's proposal to send a man to the moon. When announced back in 1962, JFK's call for a moon shot was truly original and in fact stunning. Many NASA scientists weren't sure it could be done in the allotted decade. It was a daring challenge to an entire nation.

By contrast, when President Clinton called for the building of a national information superhighway in his State of the Union address two years ago, Congress applauded politely, and then forgot the whole thing. The truth is that events had already far overtaken the President. A national information superhighway project -- something as big as building the Interstate system or the Apollo program -- would've been a serious Federal undertaking. Why didn't it come to pass?