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Gingrich: Hands Off the Net

Former house speaker calls for high-speed access in every home.

By Tom Spring, PCWorld   

The former House speaker called for a hands-off approach to Internet regulation and an extension of the federally mandated moratorium on new Internet taxes for another five years. He also declared that every American home should "at a minimum" have a high-speed link to the Internet, and that telecommunication taxes should be completely abolished.

Speaking at the Internet Commerce Exhibition here, the former representative from Georgia described himself as "a historian, not a technology person." He urged tech-savvy conference attendees to become involved in shaping public policy. Otherwise, he said, "we might end up with the ignorant creating the impossible."

He warned that the United States needs to be a leader in setting policy for the Internet. "If America doesn't create a positive checklist of how the Internet will look, the European Community is going to create that vision for us."

He made his case eagerly, rattling off such ideas as saving millions of dollars on health care by pushing telemedicine as an alternative to costly doctor visits.

And he maintained that the government should not censor the Internet: "You get the kind of morality you teach, not legislate."

Politics As Usual?

Gingrich also took a few swipes at both the "left" and the media, drawing laughter from the crowd.

"If Thomas Edison invented the light bulb today, the news media would report, 'the candle industry is in peril,'" he said, adding that consumer advocate Ralph Nader would issue a report saying that electricity was dangerous.

Gingrich stepped down earlier this year as House speaker. He recently accepted a position with the Washington, D.C.-based think tank American Enterprise Institute.