Utilities are a natural monopoly because everyone uses them so they end up commoditized (the more marginal the product, the more volume is required, until you e

Utilities are a natural monopoly because everyone uses them so they end up commoditized (the more marginal the product, the more volume is required, until you end up with a handful of the largest players). We seem to have no problem letting the other natural monopolies like electricity, water, sanitation, education, mail, roads, bridges etc etc etc be run by the government as part of the commons. But we freak out when the government runs the internet because big brother. I might suggest that the real issue is not the bits whizzing around but who is watching. Which would mean that net neutrality is a smokescreen. Fix privacy with free https everywhere (among other things) and people might just realize that they don't need to pay 30% more for advertising and dividends on what could otherwise be a commoditized utility like everything else.