September 28, 2009 10:17AM # Is This Intervention Necessary? By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) --- SHARE So asks the *Washington Post* in a [cogent editorial](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/27/AR2009092703026.html) about FCC Chairman Jules Genachowski’s speech proposing to regulate the terms on which broadband service is provided. (More from [TLJ](https://www.cato.org/2009/09/23/tlj-on-genachowskis-net-neutrality-speech/), [Julian Sanchez](https://www.cato.org/2009/09/21/eye-of-neutrality-toe-of-frog/), and [me](https://www.cato.org/2009/09/21/preemptive-regulation-of-the-internet/).) The *WaPo* piece nicely dismantles the few incidents and arguments that underlie Genachowski’s call for regulation. As the debate about “ ‘net neutrality” regulation continues, I imagine it will move from principled arguments, such as whether the government should control communications infrastructure, to practical ones: Will limitations on ISPs’ ability to manage their networks cause Internet brown-outs and failures? (This is what Comcast was trying to avoid when it ham-handedly degraded the use of the BitTorrent protocol on its network.) Will regulation bar ISPs from shifting costs to heavy users, cause individual consumers to pay more, and hasten a move from all-you-can-eat to metered Internet service? We’ll have much to discuss. ##### Related Tags [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).