The nonsensical reasoning behind forcing net neutrality and forcing more regulation on carriers and technology companies is mind boggling. Has anyone actually looked at the chaos in the Internet? Commercial interests are the only things lending any reasonable order to it. It’s amazing how money turns chaos into order.

Market realities are that Google has lots of money and is spending all over the place and employing people doing so. By the way after 4 years of trying to come up with some sort of content and telecom plan, Wall Street is still scratching its head over what Google is doing.

Can AT&T control the web? AT&T has had so much trouble developing a wireless technology roadmap that now they are calling HSPA+, 4G. Talk about desperate. Does that sound like a monolith trying to take over the world or a company trying hard not to get in its own way?

Can Verizon control the web? The company appears to have a policy of “aggressive follower”. In other words, it watches its competition make mistakes and then it does just the opposite. What are you going to do punish a company for being smarter than its competition?

The value of the Internet is the content. Verizon and AT&T do not own content. Content is where the real money is. Content is king and cash. Google does not even own content. Apple has the best content portfolio; are they the target?

Further, Verizon and AT&T are not capable of completing a transaction (voice and data) without using someone else’s network at least once to complete the transaction. Verizon and AT&T like to appear all-powerful but the reality is that neither company covers the entire country. So what if Verizon and AT&T own big networks? Verizon is trying to shed most of its landline business and so is AT&T. Both carriers are trying to focus on specific geographic markets due to higher profitability.

I am all for smart regulation. However, I need someone to explain to me what the purpose of tying the hands of innovation will do for the consumer and industry. I am all for regulations that protect the consumer. I am all for regulation that prevents a single company from dominating the entire industry. If Mr. Wu, really wanted to take on a company go after Apple. Apple is beginning to dominate the global smartphone market and it controls content as well. Apple now has the cool looking cars and most of the content. Now that is a dangerous combination.

Do I wish for the old days? Nope. I lived through divestiture. Do I yearn for those so-called “cowboy days” of the early Internet? Nope. I have seen too many financial scams and investor stupidity; living through the telecom/Internet meltdown has a way of making you suspicious of every Gee Whiz idea there is. The Telecom Act of 1996 had good intentions but the execution and government oversight was miserable. Market forces got rid of the dead wood but unfortunately, the market correction left many causalities. If the Telecom Act had been better thought through we probably could have avoided the mess.

What I want is an FCC and FTC that will have a reasonable conversation with industry players from all sides before it decides to tell the industry what is best for it. Dictating policy without seriously listening to the industry is a disaster-in-the-making. Think Telecom Act of 1996. Think the Telecom/Internet meltdown. Think about the CLEC industry and how it has actually turned out. Think about the USF and how USAC has had to police the CLEC industry. Like I said, regulation is fine so long as it is smart and informed (by industry players and not policy wonks).