Let's be honest about this...
"Regulation is coming and is coming in a big way. There is a lot of worry that regulation will stifle innovation, but if you look at history that is not the case."
If you look at history, that statement is untrue. Until the (US) National Firearms Act of 1934, nearly all firearms were designed by individual private citizens. One particularly notable instance was "Carbine" Williams, who invented the short stroke, gas operated, floating chamber action while incarcerated in a North Carolina prison for the murder of a deputy sheriff. Firearms since NFA have all been designed by corporate interests.
Hush-a-Phone - a "a voice silencer designed for confidential conversation, clear transmission and office quiet. Not a permanent attachment. Slips right on and off the mouthpiece of any phone" (from their advertisement). AT&T repairmen in the late forties began telling subscribers that they risked disconnection if they didn't remove their Hush-a-Phone, and were backed by regulation.
Remember acoustic modem couplers? Because Ma Bell didn't want you to connect your electronics directly to theirs, and had the FCC to enforce their position.
Like your cell phone? The best we'd have in the US is trunking systems if not for telephone deregulation and the Bell System breakup.
So, yes, regulation does stifle innovation and competition, and is often used to that end.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
