You can read about the event here.
Every so often, you get the opportunity to participate in a process that affords you the opportunity to talk to those who make policy that affects our personal and business lives. During the Fly-In, a group of us engaged with members of Congress on topics that ranged from privacy, bandwidth and entrepreneurship.
My two big issues: privacy and the available bandwidth spectrum.
Privacy:
What people need is the ability to provide informed consent. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for government to formulate regulations that covers every conceivable behavior. All these regulations serve to do is stiffle innovation and harm those that play by the rules. What we do know when we see it is bad conduct. The FTC has broad enforcement and police power and they need to use the power Congress gave them. Punish the bad actors and make an example out of them to provide the necessary incentives to handle online privacy the right way.
Bandwidth Spectrum:
Recently, Congress mandated FCC Spectrum Auctions. Are you tired of dead spots and sluggish performance over 3G/4G networks? Did you know the carriers stand at the ready to fund the billions of $’s necessary to put up and light up more towers? To make that work, the amount of available bandwidth has to be increased. Congress has taken an important first step – but more needs to be done. Increasingly, we rely on more than just plain text. Mobile Apps are providing (at least are trying to provide) rich content. What’s holding things back? Lack of available bandwidth. The bandwidth is out there, we just need to make it available and use it.
