How Not to Regulate the Internet

On the internet, ads giveth and ads taketh away. They're the reason you can enjoy so many services for free, and also why everything you do is so relentlessly tracked. It's an awkward duality. But for consumers, it more or less works.

Last week the Federal Communications Commission tinkered with this delicate equation. It approved new privacy rules that will require broadband providers to get permission from their subscribers before they can collect certain personal data. That sounds great. Unfortunately, it's likely to do more harm than good.