Why Is EFF Suddenly Supporting Internet Regulation?

by Adam Thierer on September 2, 2009 · Comments

Berin has already done a fine job tearing apart this latest effort by 10 activist groups to break the Internet by imposing burdensome regulation or punishing legal liability on Internet operators for the crime of trying to deliver relevant advertising to users that can actually pay for the content and services given away to users for free. To that, I would add my deep disappointment that the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) choose to join this cabal.  After all, the other members of the coalition are frequently heard calling for regulation of one variety or another. But EFF always prides itself on supposedly avoiding online regulatory schemes.  That’s what makes it so surprising that they chose to jump on this bandwagon for an Internet industrial policy in the name of “protecting privacy.”

EFF’s embrace of regulation is particularly inconsistent given their excellent filing in the FCC’s “Child Safe Viewing Act” proceeding this summer.  As I’ve previously noted, this proceeding raises the specter of “convergence-era content regulation” with Congress authorizing the FCC to look into “advanced blocking controls” for “wired, wireless, and Internet” platforms.  EFF’s comments rightly stressed dangers of expanded content controls or Internet regulation, and noted the many “less-restrictive means” available to the public that provide compelling alternatives to government regulation:  ”Blocking technologies are widely available in the market and do not require further government support.”  And EFF has been instrumental throughout the years of making the case in courts for applying the less-restrictive means test and strict scrutiny when it comes to government efforts to regulate speech.

Why, then, does EFF take the diametrically opposite position when privacy concerns enter the picture? Continue reading →

Comments Posted in: Advertising & Marketing, Privacy, Security & Government Surveillance

Privacy Elitists Launch All-Out Attack on Personalized Advertising Online

by Berin Szoka on September 1, 2009 · Comments

A coalition of ten self-described “consumer and privacy advocacy organizations” today demanded legislation that would restrict the collection and use of data online for customizing advertising based on Internet users’ interests. I’ll have more to say on this but here are my initial comments:

These so-called “consumer advocates” are actually anti-consumer elitists.  Not only do they presume that consumers are too stupid or lazy to make their own decisions about privacy, but they ignore the benefits to consumers: more relevant advertising plus more and better content.

Advertising has been the “mother’s milk” of media in America since colonial times and the future of media depends on the ability of publishers to replicate that revenue model online.  Micropayments, donations, subscriptions alone simply can’t fund a vibrant marketplace of ideas.  Only personalized advertising can sustain publishers through the Digital Revolution.

Regulatory advocates haven’t demonstrated any harm to consumers that would justify such sweeping preemptive regulation.  By strangling funding for new media, such regulations would amount to an “Industrial Policy” for the Internet.  Instead, policymakers should focus on educating consumers and empowering them by promoting development of better privacy management tools.

Comments Posted in: Advertising & Marketing, Media Regulation, Privacy, Security & Government Surveillance