Mend the FCC, Don't Abolish It

C|Net News runs yet another hyper-libertarian/quasi-anarchist rant from Declan McCullagh, this time about getting rid of the FCC (Why the FCC should die). Don't get me wrong, few people despise the FCC's current incarnation more than me. Even fewer government agencies suffer as much cognitive dissonance as the FCC; worshipping free markets where there is market failure and embracing censorious paternalism where people can make their own choices. However, McCullagh is also suffering a serious bout of cognitive dissonance when it comes to his solution.

For example, the article complains about the FCC enforcing the broadcast flag. Would private spectrum be any different? After all, software is mostly free of government regulation, but every major media software option provided incorporates DRM that is frequently worse than the broadcast flag. The FCC isn't requiring (yet) WMA and iTunes to incorporate DRM, but they do anyway. Private ownership doesn't protect against market structure created by other aspects of law.

Gee, think about how the DMCA will work with regard to private spectrum. Only authorized devices will be permitted to connect to the network. Hmmm ... sort of sounds like when the FCC banned homeowners from owning their own non-Bell phones, except the decisions this time will be made by a corporatist oligarchy.

Now, in his free market worship, McCullagh thinks that spectrum is more valuable if it is excludable - that is the "owner" can keep others from using the same spectrum. He doesn't even consider the possibility that spectrum could be free to use, as long as everyone obeys certain rules.

The FCC shouldn't be abolished, it should be re-chartered. We'd be better off if the point of the FCC was to attempt to enforce the end-to-end principle and make spectrum as dumb and free as possible.