For Immediate Release: January 27, 2004

Think Tank Outlines Economic Solution to Unwanted E-mail

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Today’s proposed Communications Regulatory Streamlining bill by Assemblyman Keith Richman is a positive step for California because it acknowledges the new reality of the communications marketplace.

“New technologies have significantly changed the competitive landscape and it’s time California’s policy makers recognized new modes of communications competition,” said Sonia Arrison, director of Technology Studies at the Pacific Research Institute (PRI).

“If I want to communicate with my mother, I have a choice of email, cell phone, or a regular land-line phone,” Arrison said. “When I want to make dinner plans on a Friday night, I might instant message or text-message my friends. And yet, while consumers see and use these various communications options, California’s rules and regulations don’t take them into account.”

Assemblyman Richman clearly understands that while some technologies are free to innovate, others are being held back or threatened by outdated, restrictive regulations.

PRI applauds all efforts to keep the Internet free from future state regulations because that will help ensure greater broadband adoption. Broadband growth is important not only for California’s high-tech sector, but also for other important consumer services such as distance learning centers, interactive health care, or on-demand entertainment.

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About PRI
For more than two decades, the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI) has championed individual liberty through free markets. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility.