When we say “infrastructure socialism,” we mean it.

From the “nut neutrality” department. At the Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit yesterday (very excellent events, by the way), Sen. Byron Dorgan had this to say about the broadband infrastructure built up by the telcos and their rivals in the U.S.: “You know who owns your pipes? Your customers. You have no right to set up a tollbooth.” This really lays the net neutrality issue bare; going forward, if you don’t own your pipes, you’re not going to bother to set up “roads” in the first place, of course. Only governments or heavily regulated utilities will–which appears to be a goal of the neutrality movement. It’s a very incoherent and damaging way to think about the future, given the infrastructure yet to be built.