Net Neutrality is heating up again as an issue, as the FCC is attempting to create regulations for the industry. I'm going to share my thoughts.

First, I do not believe the FCC has the legal authority to regulate the internet. It will take an act of Congress to give them the authority. And I'm not convinced I want the FCC doing so. I don't trust them.

I also don't know how I feel about Net Neutrality, but I'm coming to some conclusions.

I do believe we need some regulation. I believe that the policies of a particular provider should be transparent. No hidden throttling, for instance. If I chose to sign up with a provider that throttles YouTube, as long as it's very clear (before I sign on the dotted line) that's what they do, then I entered into the agreement with full disclosure.

I think, however, that those companies who have what amounts to a monopoly should be forced to adhere to net neutrality. In Apple Valley, there is only one cable provider -- no competition. Thus, they have a monopoly on high speed internet. Because I have no other choice, then they should be regulated to play fair.

However, I don't like that I have no choice. I have to wonder what is going to happen about that. Innovation happens when providers actually need to compete for customers. When a provider has a locked in customer base, they can be jerks and you just have to put up with it.

So... I guess I'd like to see that fixed. Get rid of the monopolies. Without monopolies, we wouldn't need other forms of regulation, as the market would self-regulate just fine.