President Obama has been promoting the idea of net neutrality and has been pushing the idea that the Internet should be managed like a public utility. The term “net neutrality” refers to the idea that broadband networks should treat all communications on their networks in the same way. In previous commentaries, I explained that the idea for net neutrality came from what is called the dotCommunist Manifesto. It talks about the struggle to “wrest from the bourgeoisie” the “patrimony of humankind” that has stolen intellectual property. Those arguing for net neutrality bring out a parade of horribles. Unless the government takes control, they fear there will be higher costs, degraded service, and less innovation. Since we aren’t really seeing these threats on the horizon, it is good to ask why government needs to control the Internet when the Internet seems to be doing quite well without government interference. Senator Ted Cruz in a recent op-ed reminds us that: “Never before has it been so easy to turn an idea into a business. With a simple Internet connection, some ingenuity and a lot of hard work, anyone today can create a new service or app to start selling products nationwide.” Speaking of entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban has been posting comments on Twitter saying that the government push for net neutrality “is straight out of Ayn Rand.” He goes on to say that “If Ayn Rand were an up and coming author today, she wouldn’t write about steel or railroads. It would be about net neutrality.” Some wonder if the push for net neutrality is just the beginning. For years, politicians have talked about taxing Internet access and sales. That would force online retailers to comply with the more than 9600 state and local tax jurisdictions. This would probably kill many online businesses and certainly stifle creativity and entrepreneurship. Senator Cruz also says “we should dismiss all plans to give nations hostile to human rights and democracy control over Internet policy.” We don’t need to give this government (or any other government) more control over the Internet. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view. [embed]http://ncfr.net/ncfr.net/subdomains/commentary/Downloads/Kerby_Anderson/12-01-2014.mp3[/embed]