Freedom, Regulation, And Net Neutrality

Die ich rief, die Geister, werd' ich nun nicht los!¹

The current debate over network neutrality — in all meanings of that phrase — embodies at its core a fundamental contradiction. Some parties ("Netheads²") extol the freedom of the Internet: freedom from metering and from such government interference as taxation, commercial regulation or political or moral censorship. For others ("Bellheads"), the Internet is a business, and their facilities and the services that ride upon them must be managed and priced to be as profitable as possible. The contradiction arises when Netheads advocate government regulation to protect themselves from potential anticompetitive actions or monopolistic exploitation by those Bellheads who supply last-mile broadband access to the network.