[JayBallentine]

Ryan, I agree with most everything you said, but the point I was making is this...I believe self regulation is by far the better option. But as of now there seems to an unwillingness or inability for people in the industry(especially those who are newer) to self regulate. Ive been here through the ups and downs and have seen our industry blossom and without some form of reigning in our practices we are setting ourselves up for failure.

I however do not agree that it is an all or nothing thing with the feds. I am pretty sure the smallest of regulating will cause enough of a stir and force those of us in the industry who want to see the fruits of our labor continue to sit up and fly right.

Self regulation absolutely sounds like the best option. But is that truly possible? Who's going to ward off the people who swoop in and say "gee - these guys have self regulated and in doing so have created X, Y, Z, pockets of value for us to exploit because we don't care to participate in that self regulation jazz!"?

I don't think self regulation can work. Only because there will always be someone, somewhere willing to exploit any situation where they can make a dollar - so long as they are protected by black letter law. People who deem it to be in their best interest, simply will not adhere to some esoteric rules, some self governing body made up.