I think you're making a case against government intervention in the market, and my argument is that government has a role in defining the market. It's a different concept.
As for government protecting rights -- right on. But this gets to whether you view connectivity as an arbitrary service or product or something else. I think the problem we have is that the old metaphors are not descriptive enough. Access to the computer, the internet, and the electric grid are extensions of my person, not external entities. Of course the amount that I have of these things are dependent on my actions, but access to them should not be.
That's not an argument in favor of the government regulating or providing anything, btw. the market can and should provide value based on need -- once I have free and open access.
Computers and connectivity are extensions of our brains, and should not be controlled, even passively, by government. By ensuring connectivity and processing ability, the government is actually getting out of the way of citizens performing their daily lives, not intruding in on them.
We see the same "bad metaphor" problem with Digital Rights Management. If you view the computer as some sort of super record player that folks plays songs on, then perhaps the government has a say in what happens there? (because it is somewhat of a performance) But if you view computers as an extension to people's brains, as they surely are becoming, then controlling what goes on seems silly at best and evil at worst.
As for government protecting rights -- right on. But this gets to whether you view connectivity as an arbitrary service or product or something else. I think the problem we have is that the old metaphors are not descriptive enough. Access to the computer, the internet, and the electric grid are extensions of my person, not external entities. Of course the amount that I have of these things are dependent on my actions, but access to them should not be.
That's not an argument in favor of the government regulating or providing anything, btw. the market can and should provide value based on need -- once I have free and open access.
Computers and connectivity are extensions of our brains, and should not be controlled, even passively, by government. By ensuring connectivity and processing ability, the government is actually getting out of the way of citizens performing their daily lives, not intruding in on them.
We see the same "bad metaphor" problem with Digital Rights Management. If you view the computer as some sort of super record player that folks plays songs on, then perhaps the government has a say in what happens there? (because it is somewhat of a performance) But if you view computers as an extension to people's brains, as they surely are becoming, then controlling what goes on seems silly at best and evil at worst.