I think what you're proposing is actually deregulation. It's removing the regulations that currently artificially prop up the fax machine to create a whitespace. The other reasons as to why the fax machine may still be ubiquitous wouldn't hold up for long if it wasn't for that, just like they didn't in every other non-regulated industry.
I'm not against banning the fax machine, for the record. I simply think it's very risky because what history tells us happens is that using heavy handed regulation to remove something usually ends up with the same heavy handed regulation propping something else up... and that just becomes the new sleepy incumbent. That's when we end up with X12, HL7v2, or the fax in the first place for that matter.
I haven't looked into this enough to know for certain, but I'd expect this to be a problem of a common law interpretation of an old law.
For example, HIPAA establishes guidelines that detail the precautions that must be taken when handling PHI. A judge then rules on a liability case 20 years ago that faxing was a reasonable precaution. Everyone now knows that faxing = avoiding liability, and so they start doing it even when other better standards come about. No one wants to be the one to challenge it... they have bigger fish to fry. Therefore, it sticks in common law forever.
I do think removal of HIPAA might change some things, but that sort of deregulation will most certainly have consequential second order effects and wouldn't explicitly overcome the network effects of fax. That's why I'm partial to initiatives like Axe the Fax - remove the old option without being overly prescriptive about the solution.
I think what you're proposing is actually deregulation. It's removing the regulations that currently artificially prop up the fax machine to create a whitespace. The other reasons as to why the fax machine may still be ubiquitous wouldn't hold up for long if it wasn't for that, just like they didn't in every other non-regulated industry.
I'm not against banning the fax machine, for the record. I simply think it's very risky because what history tells us happens is that using heavy handed regulation to remove something usually ends up with the same heavy handed regulation propping something else up... and that just becomes the new sleepy incumbent. That's when we end up with X12, HL7v2, or the fax in the first place for that matter.
Interesting thought! What regulations do you think prop up fax that we could remove?
I haven't looked into this enough to know for certain, but I'd expect this to be a problem of a common law interpretation of an old law.
For example, HIPAA establishes guidelines that detail the precautions that must be taken when handling PHI. A judge then rules on a liability case 20 years ago that faxing was a reasonable precaution. Everyone now knows that faxing = avoiding liability, and so they start doing it even when other better standards come about. No one wants to be the one to challenge it... they have bigger fish to fry. Therefore, it sticks in common law forever.
I do think removal of HIPAA might change some things, but that sort of deregulation will most certainly have consequential second order effects and wouldn't explicitly overcome the network effects of fax. That's why I'm partial to initiatives like Axe the Fax - remove the old option without being overly prescriptive about the solution.