The FCC's Threat to Internet Freedom (Robert M. McDowell)

From FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell in the Wall Street Journal:

For years, proponents of so-called "net neutrality" have been calling for strong regulation of broadband "on-ramps" to the Internet, like those provided by your local cable or phone companies. Rules are needed, the argument goes, to ensure that the Internet remains open and free, and to discourage broadband providers from thwarting consumer demand. That sounds good if you say it fast.

Nothing is broken that needs fixing, however. The Internet has been open and freedom-enhancing since it was spun off from a government research project in the early 1990s. Its nature as a diffuse and dynamic global network of networks defies top-down authority. Ample laws to protect consumers already exist. Furthermore, the Obama Justice Department and the European Commission both decided this year that net-neutrality regulation was unnecessary and might deter investment in next-generation Internet technology and infrastructure.

On the FCC blog, Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wrote "We must take action to protect consumers against price hikes and closed access to the Internet--and our proposed framework is designed to do just that: to guard against these risks while recognizing the legitimate needs and interests of broadband providers." What price hikes? What closed access? We've had a consumer Internet for over 16 years and yet we haven't seen these problems in any significant way -- only imagined "risks," conjured up in tech conferences and over hyped by large corporations trying to bugger other large corporations. Protecting against "risks" that haven't materialized is a very low bar for this kind of massive government intervention into the Internet industry.