[antiRepublicrat]

I trust the competitive market among internet service providers

That's where a little problem comes in. There's no real competition in many places. In order to entice broadband providers to areas, providers are often given effective monopolies.

[VRWCmember]

That's where a little problem comes in. There's no real competition in many places. In order to entice broadband providers to areas, providers are often given effective monopolies.

There is STILL a more competitive market even in those areas because of the availability of cable internet, phone company broadband internet, and wireless broadband internet. And as such, competitive forces provide consumers with more choice and more freedom than your federal government regulations will. But maybe you're right and federal restrictions to discourage investment by ISP's will help ensure that innovation continues to flourish. It has NEVER worked before, but maybe the internet is the exception that will finally prove that a federal government solution to a non-existent problem is what we really need.

[LearsFool]

That's where a little problem comes in. There's no real competition in many places.

Despite government interference in the market, there's no pressing need for greater competition just yet. Let the much-feared censorship begin, however, and competitors will be popping up like mushrooms, vying for the "no-censorship" crowd's business. (Whether the government will permit such free, consumer-oriented competition is another question altogether.)

When the final tallies are in, competition benefits the consumer - and even more so when government doesn't step in to "help". No, the benefit won't be perfect, and it won't be immediate. But only the government can get away with promising immediate, perfect solutions, then utterly fail to deliver, and still be in business.