^{Democracy & Technology Blog} Argument that telephone networks belong to ratepayers more absurd than Socialism or Communism

Ken Robinson provides a much needed response to the crazy proposition that telephone networks were paid for by the ratepayer, not investors; ergo, they are public property; ergo, they should be subject to net neutrality mandates and every other conceivable regulation. “We, the people, paid for these networks, not the phone companies, and we, not the phone companies, should decide on the policies of these utilities,” is how Bruce Kushnick phrased it in The $200 Billion Scandal. Robinson points out that nowhere does the purchaser of a product or service thereby acquire an equity position. And he notes that the public property argument — repeated by Kushnick in his book — is actually a more extreme view than Socialism or Communism:

Under Socialism, remember, the government bought the companies they’re now running. So, when the public’s representatives say thus-and-such should be done, in a sense they’re just exercising the same right of direction that shareowners do under our system.
Under Communism, the assets may have been seized — often without compensation. But the state, remember, is also assuming the risk, isn’t it? If things don’t work, state and enterprise both get blamed.

See: “Let’s Hear It for Capitalism, Again!” by Ken Robinson, published in Telecommunications Policy Review on Jul. 31, 2006 and posted on the KMB Video Journal web site.