In December 2010, after a long, contentious administrative proceeding, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new “net neutrality” regulations. These would prevent Internet providers from blocking access to any website and from “unreasonably” discriminating in transmitting traffic over their broadband networks.

While the regulations may have a superficially appealing ring to them, they would subject Internet providers, for the first time, to common carrier-like regulation similar to the regulation applied to Ma Bell last century. Of course, Ma Bell operated in a monopolistic environment, whereas today’s Internet providers — like Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Sprint, T-Mobile and so on — operate in a generally competitive one.