>>Hardly. Code can be intensely political (competing standards championed by competing companies, etc.). The decision to make a particular segment of code the

>>Hardly. Code can be intensely political (competing standards championed by competing companies, etc.). The decision to make a particular segment of code the standard can be political, but the effective utilization of that code within a project once it has become the standard, has no political element to it. >>Regulatory agencies are for the most part incredibly transparent organizations. That is not the impression I get from the many complaints I've seen from those trying to navigate the regulatory framework. Of course I haven't done a comprehensive/rigorous study of this topic so my impression may not be an accurate representation of reality. I also find it hard to believe that a legalistic (as opposed to programmatic) domain like regulatory enforcement does not have a significant human element that cannot be fully articulated in formal notices and procedures. >>And your speculation is based on? On the fact that there is a very large rent-seeking opportunity in enacting regulatory barriers to entry, as demonstrated by the impact regulations have on income inequality (which is a consequence of economic rent accruing to those at the top of the industry ladder).