The Objective Standard Blog

Archive for October 2009

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Audio Article: ‘Net Neutrality: Toward a Stupid Internet’

Posted by Craig Biddle at 4:43 pm

We have posted an MP3 audio version of Raymond C. Niles’s timely article “Net Neutrality: Toward a Stupid Internet.” This audio article is accessible for free and can be played directly on our website or downloaded to your MP3 player. This is the first of many audio articles to come. Over the next few weeks, we will be posting audio versions of several articles from past issues, and we are considering the possibility of offering audio versions of all future TOS articles.

I hope you enjoy this first one. Let us know what you think.

Posted in: Announcements, Business and Economics, Science and Technology

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Explore Atlas Shrugged

Posted by Craig Biddle at 12:05 pm

Diana Hsieh, of NoodleFood and Rationally Selfish Radio fame, has created a new website dedicated to Exploring Atlas Shrugged. The purpose of the site is to help readers deepen their understanding of Ayn Rand’s epic novel and to provide a resource for those interested in creating Atlas Shrugged reading groups. Diana has divided the novel into 20 parts, each covering about 65 pages, and for each part she plans to post a podcast along with discussion questions. Session 1, in which she discusses chapters 1–3, has been posted and is superb. I expect the next 19 sessions will be as well. Listen and see.

Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, The Arts

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Net Neutrality Means an Unfree, Slow, and ‘Stupid’ Internet

Posted by Raymond C. Niles at 11:44 am

The chairman of the FCC recently called for applying “net neutrality” to the wireless spectrum. Such a measure  would dramatically extend the reach of proposed “net neutrality” rules, which were originally slated to govern the delivery of Internet content via wire—cable and DSL lines—but not via wireless signals. The expanded rules would govern the delivery of Internet content to cell phones, iPhones, Kindles, and other wireless devices. The advocates of net neutrality claim they are seeking to preserve a “free” and “open” Internet and to prohibit the “unfair” policies of Internet service providers that favor some content over others. According to them, to preserve this openness and freedom, the FCC must be granted vastly greater powers to coercively determine the business practices of Internet service providers.

That claim, however, is a sham.

An “open” and “free” Internet cannot be achieved by means of further FCC regulations. Extending FCC controls to the wireless spectrum would not “open” anything or free anyone; rather it would further violate the rights of Americans to produce and trade according to their own judgment and thus thwart this vital new realm of life-serving technology. It would unleash a torrent of government control over every aspect of the Internet, granting the  government power to dictate how content is to be delivered and at what price, making it less profitable for Internet service providers to invest in costly infrastructure, and thereby quashing their incentive to innovate.

To the extent that “net neutrality” is implemented, the result will be a slower, less robust Internet—a “stupid” Internet, as one of the chief advocates of this pernicious idea aptly describes it. For an elaboration on how “net neutrality” violates the rights of Internet service providers and users alike, and why it is a bad idea for the wired Internet and by implication the wireless spectrum, read my article “Net Neutrality: Toward a Stupid Internet.”

Posted in: Business and Economics, Individual Rights and Law, Science and Technology

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

John David Lewis on ‘The Big Biz Show’

Posted by TOS Admin at 1:30 pm

John David Lewis will be on “The Big Biz Show” with Bob “Sully” Sullivan & Russ “T” Nailz, Wed, Oct 7 at 2:40 p.m. Pacific Time. The show can be heard live online from 1 to 3 p.m. Pacific Time at www.businesstalkradio.net (click on “Listen Live”).

Posted in: Announcements, Events

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Fall issue of TOS has been Posted and Mailed

Posted by Craig Biddle at 4:11 pm

The print edition of the Fall issue has been mailed, and the online version has been posted to our website. (Due to production difficulties, the print edition was mailed a few days late. I apologize for the delay.) The contents of the Fall issue are:

From the Editor

Letters and Replies

ARTICLES
Obama’s Atomic Bomb: The Ideological Clarity of the Democratic Agenda
by John David Lewis

America’s Self-Crippled Foreign Policy: An Interview with Yaron Brook, Elan Journo, and Alex Epstein

An Unwinnable War?
by Elan Journo

The Creed of Sacrifice vs. The Land of Liberty
by Craig Biddle

The Rise of American Big Government: A Brief History of How We Got Here
by Michael Dahlen

How the Freedom to Contract Protects Insurability
by Paul Hsieh

How Morality is Grounded in Reality
by Craig Biddle

BOOKS REVIEWED
Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed edited by Marlene Podritske and Peter Schwartz
Reviewed by Dina Schein Federman

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
Reviewed by Daniel Wahl

Fred Astaire by Joseph Epstein
Reviewed by Scott Holleran

The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants by Jane S. Smith
Reviewed by Daniel Wahl

If you have not yet subscribed to TOS, there is no time like now. You can subscribe online or by calling 800-423-6151.

Posted in: Announcements, Ayn Rand and Objectivism, Business and Economics, Foreign Policy and War, Health Care, History, Individual Rights and Law, Philosophy, Religion, Science and Technology