The general question that I have been asked to address is this: how to think about telecommunications regulation. My comparative advantage is not in particular knowledge of the ongoing New Zealand dispute on how heavy- or light-handed telecommunications regulation ought to be, although I have some weak instincts on that subject that I will share with you in due course. Instead, it is probably better for me to approach the topic by talking about the stages of network communication deregulation in the United States as it evolved through to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. As is so often the case, it is critical here to speak not only of the statutes involved, but also of their administrative and judicial interpretation. One of the great perils of telecommunications regulation is that the need to create ongoing administrative oversight opens the door to massive political influence that is extremely difficult, even in the best of circumstances, to counteract.