EP 712 Who Should Make the Rules of the Internet Road in the Digital Age?

Our guest likes to compare and contrast this moment in history with the Gilded Age of the Industrial Revolution, when robber barons pillaged the economic landscape with impunity.  At some point when the spoils all went to the top, when labor was exploited and the excesses became too apparent to all, the government stopped being a spectator and developed antitrust law and regulatory oversight.  Rather than thwarting capitalism, these government guardrails produced better results for industry, consumers and workers.  We’re at that moment again, he says, with the digital economy and that regulatory framework, while different than the one governing our industrial development, must happen soon.  AI is about to turbocharge whatever your grievances are with the dominant players in the digital space–the owners creating the rules, infringements on privacy, vast accumulation of wealth for a few, and rampant disinformation.  Tom Wheeler, the former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, makes a compelling case for the reassertion of the public interest in our new economy in his book, “Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age?”  He writes clearly on a host of topics that fall in this space and articulates them succinctly on this podcast.

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