I can't reply to tc's reply to me (I think that "feature" should probably be disabled, btw; it tends to lead to broken threads like this one, and inhibits discussion), so I'm replying to myself, like a monster.
Service provider competition is definitely the answer. Where I live, we finally have a competitor to Comcast (Qwest), and t-mobile is also gearing up for a bit of wireless service. I've heard that some municipalities assert ownership of their power grids, phone lines, pretty much everything that's built on public land, and they force open competition for providing services over those infrastructure pieces. That would definitely be preferable to net neutrality, but it seems that wresting ownership of infrastructure from the ISPs is even more offensive than the creation of neutrality provisions. At least new communities can learn from existing ones and have sane starting points for competition, I guess.
Service provider competition is definitely the answer. Where I live, we finally have a competitor to Comcast (Qwest), and t-mobile is also gearing up for a bit of wireless service. I've heard that some municipalities assert ownership of their power grids, phone lines, pretty much everything that's built on public land, and they force open competition for providing services over those infrastructure pieces. That would definitely be preferable to net neutrality, but it seems that wresting ownership of infrastructure from the ISPs is even more offensive than the creation of neutrality provisions. At least new communities can learn from existing ones and have sane starting points for competition, I guess.