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Politics are a fickle beast, during the midterm elections we heard little to nothing in regards to net neutrality but, it seems that once the votes were in and results were tallied, net neutrality has made its way to the fire of American politics. The lines are being drawn, and heels dug into the ground—it seems we have a Mexican standoff on our hands as millions sit on the sidelines and wait to see how the dust settles.

A December 10 sit down between the U.S. House of Representatives Communications and Technology subcommittee and all five FCC (News - Alert) commissioners planned on making some real progress in the debate, however, today, a key House panel on the FCC postponed its session. In politics this is not a good sign.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee Twitter (News - Alert) account stated today that net neutrality “will be a top priority in the new Congress.” Tom wheeler, FCC chairman was aiming to have rules in place by the new year, but President Obama’s recent speech imploring the FCC to deem ISPs like public utilities (banning companies from charging for faster/better Internet) may have put a wrench in that plan.

This afternoon, probable GOP presidential hopeful Rand Paul had some words of his own; telling the Huffington Post (News - Alert) “…I don’t want to see regulation of the Internet. I think it’s the wrong way to go about it.” This is not new territory for Paul. In 2011 he co-sponsored a bill to repeal FCC adopted net neutrality regulations and BuzzFeed reported that in 2012 Paul supported an online manifesto looking to prevent government net neutrality rules.   

An interesting argument broached here is the issue of monopolies. One of politician’s favorite weapons to dispatch on the American public is fear, and the notion of net neutrality breads exactly that fear. It is believed that without FCC regulation, organically, monopolies will appear due to larger providers charging for greater access.

Paul commented on this piece, "I don't like monopolies, but I also don't like monopolies where the government gives the monopoly. For example, in many cities, there's a virtual monopoly on cable." 

A voice from the other side of the aisle, Marvin Ammori, a lawyer working for tech companies responded to Paul’s comments. He agreed with the notion that many cable providers have monopolies, but "the economics of this market make competition unlikely without some government support."

As the use of IP communications grows and the Internet expands its potentially never-ending reach, this debate looms large for enterprises small and large. Unfortunately, like most issues in politics there is no easy answer or quick fix. The wonder that is bureaucracy and partisanship is working its magic, leaving only time to tell what rules we will be forced to play by.