Quite honestly, there was plenty of evidence Friday morning before the SEC got involved of the need to create new rules of the road and the desire by the American people to see those put into law.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

And he accused Murdoch's son and heir apparent James of "breathtaking arrogance" and a desire to gut British rules on the impartiality of the media.

CNN: Gordon Brown lashes out at Rupert Murdoch, son and tabloid

Charlotte Powell, a London-based barrister and chair of the Extradition Lawyers' Association, notes that the desire to harmonise procedural rules has outstripped the harmonisation of substantive elements.

ECONOMIST: Extradition

You see, there has always been a tension between the desire to allow markets to function without interference and the absolute necessity of rules to prevent markets from falling out of kilter.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Tells Wall Street to Back Reform

He has shown a desire to rewrite the rules since taking on his first elected job, at the age of 30, as mayor of Liverpool in western Sydney.

ECONOMIST: Labour's feisty leader takes the election down to the wire

Industry watchers speculated that Google, which lobbied the FCC to adopt open access rules for the auction, was participating in the auction out of a sense of duty rather than a desire to win.

FORBES: Google Likely Out, And Happy