I agree, ignoring the serious problem that is a tiny number of private monopolies owning all of our communication infrastructure (boy, 1996 me hopes those oliga

I agree, ignoring the serious problem that is a tiny number of private monopolies owning all of our communication infrastructure (boy, 1996 me hopes those oligarchs don't choose to compromise the privacy or rights of their customers, since we have no other viable options....) the current state of affairs is really not too bad in that a whole bunch of people can get reasonably fast service at reasonable prices. As far as I know concerns people have with the telecommunications act of 1996 are very serious but they concern primarily media/press consolidation, and allowing for vertical integration, since it provides dangerous incentives for companies to violate net neutrality. And of course people have problems in general with massive consolidation of private power over critical communication infrastructure (see previous paragraph) but I didn't realize there was any worry that it would make things much worse when it comes to "what kind of service can the consumer buy" efficiency related issues.