Earlier this week, you may have read my post on Why "Net Neutrality" is Wrong. In it, I illustrated the reasons for network management control of the network, and also mentioned how most of the politicians involved just don't get it (and believe me, I got email about the video linked to my "idiot politicians" statement!). Today, Larry Downes of The Technology Liberation Front breaks down the Google/Verizon model legislation and outlines the irony of who is complaining about it in his excellent article Deconstructing the Google-Verizon Framework. When you read it, you'll begin to see the disingenuous nature of so many knee-jerk reactions to political gamesmanship. It's a good read.

The bottom line remains: if we are to have all of the applications that we want to have on the Internet, we need to protect it from being controlled by political whims and wanna-be political engineers. The challenges are far greater than can be solved by political debate, and most of what we're seeing these days makes it clear that actually solving problems is beyond the ken of most in political life. Note that I don't call them "leaders." That's on purpose. I have too much respect for true leadership.