海角大神

As a recent column in the Wall Street Journal reminds us, online freedom is jeopardized in the name of 鈥渘et neutrality鈥� (). This is just another case of the state re-labeling things to sound benign but that are really invasions of liberty and property rights鈥揳nother good example being use of the term 鈥渋ntellectual property鈥� to masque the true nature of state-granted monopoly privilege rights (patent and copyright) (see my post ).

It is true that some corporations probably have extra-market power to control aspects of the Internet, as the result of state interventions such as IP, FCC licensing, antitrust law, big business favoritism, and so on. But the solution is not to grant the state even more power to regulate private companies.This is the criminal gang that has fouled things up in the first place. Another recent example of federal Chutzpah is the Obama administration鈥檚 proposal to provide a 鈥溾�溾�揾ow obscene. The mob that is the greatest threat to online privacy freedom, and rights will protect us? I鈥檓 reminded of the phrase, 鈥淲e鈥檙e from the government. And we鈥檙e here to help.鈥� Thanks, but no thanks, guys.

These are the same parasites who do everything they can to hobble and destroy business and innovation鈥搕hey impose costly regulations; tax individuals, making employees more costly; inflate the money supply and cause destructive business cycles; impose insane, murderous policies on pharmaceutical and medical innovations via the FDA; and then impose double tax by taxing corporations too, after imposing Sarbannes Oxley on them for the 鈥減rivilege鈥� to exist as a corporation (a privilege that is not a privilege; corporations do not need state privileges to exist鈥搒ee ; ; ; ; ; ; ).

And then, as a solution to the damage done to innovation by the state鈥檚 malicious hobbbling, the maniacal intellectual properteers urge giving the state more power to grant intellectual monopoly privilege grants to companies. (But then, if the companies use these monopoly grants 鈥渢oo much鈥�, it鈥檚 called 鈥渁buse鈥� and the state persecutes them under its evil antitrust laws.) (See .)

Likewise, net neutrality is an attempt by the state to see more power to control private property rights as an ostensible response to various 鈥渕arket failures鈥� that are really themselves caused by state intervention. In this, it is anohter example of the state鈥檚 creating a crisis and using this as a justification to seize more power under the pretense of saving the people from the crisis that it caused. (See Robert Higgs, .)

Libertarians should oppose net neutrality鈥揳nd the state interventions that gives rise to the problems net neutrality pretends to address. (See my posts and (both reposted below); also .) Don鈥檛 trust the state to 鈥減rotect鈥� you. Ever.

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