Hi, I want to say that if you guys want to blame "republicans" on this one, our government has really stepped more into our lives this past decade with Bush+Obama more than it ever should have bothered to.
Also Zoroaster, can you PLEASE not use crappy references for this.
I had to go to BBC to get a less opinionated effing source for this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8666826.stm
Anyway, I don't trust the FCC to really run the net that great, nor any government organization. If we ever did allow internet providers (including government) to handle what we get to see and how the net is delivered, we destroy the best part of the net. This great thing being able to have grassroots media. Yes I know its ironic I said your media sucked that you posted, but those guys wouldn't even be known really without the internet and how it is handled now.
Also it should not be the national government giving us all internet access in our homes. There are tons of public places that offer internet for free, it is the problem of the people to not use these public places, the library being one of them. Libraries I've been to even sometimes offer basic computer classes so you can even learn how to use it for checking e-mail and making documents at least.
On a final note, I hope to god President's never can just shut down the 'net in "emergencies." The net has given us one of our best ways of quickly communicating on a wide network globally. I don't really see a better thing coming for a long time to come. XD