Five takeaways from an hour with techno-libertarians

An annual libertarian-leaning convention rolled into town Wednesday.

FreedomFest, billed as “the world’s largest gathering of free minds,” features speeches from GOP presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday and Donald Trump on Saturday.

One interesting niche in the libertarian movement is a group who self-identify as “techno-libertarians.” Some lean conservative. Some lean liberal. The techno-libertarian believes the unbridled promotion of technology improves human life and enhances individual freedom. They tend to value privacy, seek to keep the Internet independent and reduce regulations for emerging markets. It’s an ideology that is popular in Silicon Valley because it often complements a startup culture that emphasizes deregulation and the disruption of legacy businesses.

The Sun caught up with some right-leaning techno-libertarians attending FreedomFest at a happy hour event Thursday night at the Heart Bar inside Planet Hollywood. Here are five things on their minds.

Uber: The victim of regulatory capture

You’d be hard pressed to find any Uber haters at the event. In general, they said efforts to regulate the ride-sharing companies are an attempt to protect legacy cab companies and prevent Uber and Lyft from penetrating the market. Technology, they said, could provide ride-sharing companies with its own safeguards, like instituting a ratings system for driving performance.

Party politics can be “disrupted”

The right-leaning techno-libertarians the Sun spoke to oppose NSA surveillance.

They also support Uber. But the issues don’t neatly fall into party politics. Both create tensions within the two parties. Older liberals, the techno-libertarians said, oppose Uber while younger liberals generally support it. Older conservatives and younger conservatives, they said, also disagree on a number of tech issues, including government surveillance and intellectual property regulations.

Stand with Rand

Most attendees said they supported Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, whose appeal extends to activists in both parties. He opposes NSA surveillance and drone killings but has a record as a fiscal hawk. Several said they see a generational divide though, with more millennials supporting Paul and the establishment backing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. As for Donald Trump, one attendee referred to him as “a joke.”

Net neutrality might not be what it seems

Several attendees argued that the FCC’s ban on paid prioritization, which would allow content owners like Netflix to pay broadband providers like Verizon for faster service, stifles the efficient distribution of services across the Internet. They also expressed concern about the FCC having expanded its authority to regulate the Internet, saying it should be left to markets instead.

Pay per road

This is hypothetical. But one idea tossed around by an event attendee was Bitcoin, the virtual currency, could make micro-transactions easier and eventually allow for parks and roads to collect a small fee for usage. This system could eventually allow for a change in the tax code so people are taxed for what they use, in the techno-libertarians’ view.