Reply to post: Being "anti-gummint" is not the solution

Being "anti-gummint" is not the solution

Just like too many liberals think the solution to any problem is more regulation, too many conservatives think the solution to any problem is less regulation. Both sides have forgot the point of regulation - or more likely have no idea there is one. Regulation is required to correct market failures. Not to enforce ethics, or help people be "better" (like stupid bans on selling large sodas) The classic example is pollution - if a company makes products that have toxic waste as a byproduct, and they can just dump it into the river or let it escape their smoke stack for free, they impose a cost on society that they don't bear. That's where regulation is needed.

If companies are selling IoT devices that get hacked and they're used to attack internet commerce and cost the economy billions of dollars, the companies selling those insecure IoT devices are imposing a cost on society that they don't bear. I'm not sure exactly what sort of regulation could properly fix that, but if they don't clean it up themselves eventually government will be forced into action. Often they don't do all that well in hitting the right target with their action, so companies would be advised to address the issue before we reach that point!