[10444] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: bill text draft 2: Telecommunications Competition Act (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sean McLinden)
Wed Feb 23 11:24:28 1994
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 1994 11:02:37 -0500 (EST)
From: Sean McLinden <sean@dsl.pitt.edu>
To: Barry Shein <bzs@world.std.com>
Cc: jeffgs@netcom.com, horn%temerity@leia.polaroid.com, com-priv@psi.com
In-Reply-To: <199401250636.AA09490@world.std.com>
On Tue, 25 Jan 1994, Barry Shein wrote:
> For example:
>
> Industry: Auto
> Major Companies: GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota
> Total Market Share (US): I dunno, around 85%?
>
> Now list the smaller community players who have benefited in each of
> those industries:
Let's see. Last week I saw an Infinity commercial that mentioned that a
MIPS R5 was "brains" behind the system, and Ford is planning to put
PowerPC chips in many of its cars. Given the use of microprocessors in
automobiles I would number the sales in the tens or hundreds of thousands.
There are at least four major enterprise zones in Allegheny County that
are centered around auto dealerships, and a ton of car washes, service
stations, vendors of auto stereo equipment and the media that goes into
them, drive up fast-food suppliers, surburban malls that cannot be
reached by public transportation. My home town was kept alive by a ball
bearing factory (and by the people who drove to work to get there).
There are the autoparts stores, many of which are locally owned, and the
people who work there spend their money on all sorts of local commerce.
There is the plastics firm down the road that sells much of the plastic
that goes into cars.
I guess you're right, Barry, if you ignore living, then the local benefits
derived from these regulated industries is pretty slim.
> ok, now ask yourself if there is possibly any relationship evident
> here.
> Do you believe, for example, that regulating the newspaper industry
> would improve "universal access for commercial content providers"?
Do you believe that *not* regulating the burgeoning phone industry a half a
century ago would have led us to the level of ubiquity and penetration
that we have in our phone system, today?
> I think some illusions need to be shattered here, badly.
One of those being that *any* business wants a free market. Most businesses
fight for market control and attempt to set up barriers to competition
(or haven't you noticed that Blockbuster rental prices are higher in
areas where they have no competition). I agree with a level playing field
concept, but I don't for a moment believe that all regulation is bad
(though much of it, sadly, is). It just ain't that simple.
Sean
