New visions, old practices: Policy and regulation in the Internet era

This paper examines corporate interests in the evolution of the Internet, arguing that the Internet is not a neutral configuration of technologies. In reviewing the state's role in regulating the Internet, the paradoxical alliance between the neoliberal economic and political agenda and advocacy of an open unregulated Internet is highlighted. Evidence of neoliberal strategies in telecommunication, broadcasting and the Internet is considered alongside private sector interests in exploiting labour power, in managing information diversity and in creating new choke points on the Internet. In the cases of infrastructure investment, content production and radio spectrum policy the continuing primacy of market valuation suggests that the neoliberal paradigm is influencing whether the state seeks to regulate indicating that there is a need for pro-active policy and regulatory intervention to secure the Internet as a communicative space for an engaged citizenry.