Permissionless Innovation

“Why Permissionless Innovation Matters”

The Internet and its related technologies created a world of immediately available information, a setting in which anyone’s voice can be heard. These advances bloomed in an environment of permissionless innovation, a climate that invites experimentation and risk taking and that encourages aggressive failure. Permissionless innovation benefits society, and seems sure to lead to more and better communication and networking. Beyond these breakthroughs lie new advances into the “fully customizable” physical world – the “Internet of Things,” in which “smart” homes, appliances, vehicles, and the like will communicate with their users and with each other. However, wrong-headed regulation and legislation addressing the real issues of privacy and security could stifle the Internet’s future promise.

The past decades have produced invaluable innovations: faster computers, pads and tablets; generations of mobile phones; and the rise of the Internet. Consumers came to expect faster and better connectivity, and they got it in a prevailing climate of permissionless innovation that opened doors on widely different levels – encompassing professionals...