At the August 5, 2005 meeting of the FCC, following the Supreme Court’s decision that cable modem connectivity is an information service, the FCC leveled (lowered) the playing field by declaring that DSL, too, is an information service. These decisions remove the common carrier obligation of the line owner to share — non-carrier ISPs like Earthlink are left to twist slowly in the wind. The industry is, for all intents, re-verticalized.
The central idea of the Telecom Act of 1996 — that competition would replace regulation — is all but dead. Regulation has systematically fought competition since 1996. Regulation has won.
More worth reading on blocking useful network apps here.