Lessig talked about this in his book CODE Regulation of humans happens via these forces: Norms - people expressing approval / disapproval, imposing consequenc

Lessig talked about this in his book CODE Regulation of humans happens via these forces: Norms - people expressing approval / disapproval, imposing consequences and remedies similar to law, but not in a court, and not with assurances of due process, equal protection. Law - Regulates behavior using courts, process and judgement, and can impose remedies, costs, and loss of freedom, consequenses. Neither norms or law actually prevent people from doing things. They are both about accounting for things people have done. Notably the more resources one has, greater means and popularity generally mean lower costs and more moderate consequences. Physics - The rules of the world do prevent actions! If it's too heavy you can't lift it, etc... The better one understand the world, the more agency one has. Access to technology also contributes to this agency. Money - If you can't afford it, you are regulated. The more money one has, the more agency one has, generally. What is being done here is to regulate with real teeth, preventing actions, without actually making laws and going through courts. Policy becomes law in other words, and many people oppose that because it represents a direct attack on their agency, freedom and it's very difficult to hold the people responsible accountable. All Congress needs to do is weave in a little immunity and suddenly very large numbers of people experience regulation they may find expensive or undesirable and have very little they can do about it.