Don't let more public goods become private for-profits

January 09, 2020

I just read this article, which tells the story of a private equity firm--"Ethos"--which wants to buy the outfit that manages ".org" addresses on the interwebs.

One doesn't have to be paranoid, or even an anarchist, to see that this is a bad idea.  Why do we allow public infrastructure to be even considered for private acquisition?  (For if you don't think of the internet as public infrastructure, you don't know how it got started or how it is managed.)  I suppose we do believe that, absent some governing self-interest, institutions will be badly managed. I don't think that's always the case, and insofar as it is, perhaps we can institute accountability and oversight structures that ensure a modicum of self-interest on the part of the managers, even in public goods.

In any event, the fact that this is news is paradoxically a good sign: at least we don't think of this as natural or obvious.  Maybe a decade or two ago, we would have.  Maybe we can gin up enough resistance to fight this sort of thing.