Internet as Agreement

The longer we maintain against regulating the Internet, the longer there is legal ambiguity about the most appropriate linguistic metaphor for the Internet (pipes vs. space), the more people wil remain accustomed to the Internet as a natural resource. That it is a natural resource, an agreement is an affirming nuance.

The more people think of the Internet as a natural resource, the more resistance there will be to regulation, to moving things away from the edges. In an inverse corollary of government reticence to allow any given cash flow to dry up — Illinois' toll roads were supposed to be abandoned back in the 1970-80's — people used to getting something for free will expect that price in perpetuity. Maybe we don't need to win, but just stall 'em.