Government Monopoly: The Internet
Yet again, we see where government is going where no government has any business going. This time, it's the state of Rhode Island government that has decided that they want to put all private Internet Service Providers out of business.
Oh, you didn't read that in the article and news release? It's there, if you understand freedom. You see, government has a monopoly on the use of force. Government also has unlimited power in the form of regulation and money -- they simply cannot practically run out of either. So, if the government decides to get into a business, they decide whether they win or lose -- no one else can possibly decide. If the state decides they want to make money, they can just price their services lower than the cost to provide the service. Then, no one can compete with them and all private businesses go out of business (and then the state is free to raise the rates). The state also has the option of passing regulations that will discourage, reduce, or remove competition at the drop of a hat -- so government literally cannot lose -- unless they want to. Currently, RI is planning on charging $20 a month for 1MBps connections -- well under the current market. So clearly, their purpose is to remove all possible competition and create a government-run monopoly on internet service in Rhode Island. How will that work? Well just take a look at government-run education and decide for yourself. Government monopolies are BAD, no matter where they appear. You might be thinking that the consumer will win because they will have low-cost service -- but you'd be wrong. If the service cannot be provided for less than $20 a month (and it's highly unlikely that it can be based on the current market), then the government, via taxpayers, will have to pay the difference. So the consumer will likely pay about $80 a month for this service -- $20 in a billed fee, $60 in increased taxes. Of course, if you don't purchase the service, that's okay, you can still pay the $60 in increased taxes -- and there will be no other ISP to choose from.
Comments
1
The Internet is a threat to politician's greed and power. Therefore, scalaways have every reason to try to shut us up.
Posted by: Always On Watch at May 04, 2006 02:51 AM (y6n8O)
2
ANYTHING is a threat to politicians and power. That's why the price of freedom IS so high.
Posted by: Ogre at May 04, 2006 10:22 AM (blszc)
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