Beshear Versus the Internet
Our governor did his part to support the employment of reporters yesterday by announcing a cockamamie (and likely illegal) scheme to rule the Internet. In an idea charitably described by one expert as "a stunt", Beshear announced his intention to shut down internet gambling in Kentucky by seizing the domain names of casinos that operate online and allow Kentuckians access.
Whether or not these sites should be shut down is not Kentucky's prerogative. I'm not a constitutional law expert, but I'm pretty sure the Internet in almost all instances is interstate commerce and therefore not subject to regulation by the states in any way, rendering Beshear's effort a taxmoney-wasting folly.
But if I'm wrong on this count, Beshear is setting a dangerous, dangerous precedent for regulating the incredible free-market success story that is the Internet. I'm sure I don't have to describe what the Internet adds to daily life, but I'll focus on one part of it relevant to Beshear's dastardly plan: the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web did, in fact, create itself. It is not a product of any person, agency or company, but a consortium that sets goals of standards and lets consumers adapt to what works best. There are many, many different technologies that access, read and create the Web, and it is truly an amazing ad hoc construction that constantly evolves as market forces determine what succeeds and what fails.
Beshear is suddenly suggesting that every state has a say about what is and is not allowed. Can you imagine what effect 50 sets of regulations would have on Internet commerce? Where the Web has been catalyst of innovation and productivity in the last two decades, it would become, well, the health insurance industry. Foolish ideas like Beshear's are why Google is looking into barges.
Beshear should abandon this waste of time and taxdollars. Think of all the policy advisors he could hire instead.
