Technological advances are pushing a revolution in how individuals and companies raise money, but regulation is putting the clamps on that revolution, says Brian Knight, associate director of financial policy at the Milken Institute.

"Advances in financial technology promise to make it easier for businesses, investors and consumers to raise capital, make investments and transfer money to anyone, anywhere," he writes in an article for Real Clear Markets.

"This technological revolution brings the promise of greater opportunity, particularly for those who live outside the wealthiest parts of the country."

So what's the problem?

"Unfortunately, our outdated regulatory structure, made up of a patchwork of state regulations, could stifle this regulation before it starts," Knight explains. "A minefield of inconsistent requirements could make it impossible for innovative companies, especially small businesses, to establish a foothold."

So what's the solution?

"Fortunately, Congress has the power to protect both innovators and consumers from this regulatory morass and to create a fair and uniform playing field for all participants, if they have the courage to use it," Knight says.

Meanwhile, you're probably well aware that Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief and chairman of Forbes Media, abhors unnecessary government regulation.

So you probably won't be surprised to learn that he's not so keen about companies abusing regulatory loopholes either. In this case, the company he's upset with is Dish Network.

Its "brazen abuse of the Federal Communications Commission's incentives for small businesses at a recent spectrum auction — to the tune of $3 billion, at taxpayers' expense — was enough to make even a Dickensian villain squirm," Forbes writes in the National Review.

In the auction, most companies deployed their own money to bid for the spectrum. But "using multiple shell companies to qualify for [small business] discounts, Dish Network effectively shaved off more than $3 billion in payments that otherwise would have been made to the government," Forbes explains.

The "designated entity" program offers "qualifying small companies a taxpayer-funded credit equal to 25 percent of the purchase price to help them compete against their larger counterparts when bidding for spectrum."

"One would have a hard time imagining a scenario in which Dish Network, valued at $35 billion, falls in with the Davids, not the Goliaths. Yet, that's exactly what the giant put over on federal regulators," he notes.

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