• Mandatory data retention.
• Dragnetting of financial records.
• Dragnetting of almost all national phone records.
• Pushing ISPs to take steps to filter content.

Those are some of the many things that the government has done which should cause anyone who cares about the future of the Internet to be not exactly thrilled about the idea of new federal regulations. Yet once again, many people turn to Uncle Sam, the peeping tom, to make sure that the Internet remains Demokratik. This is the same Uncle Sam that wants their ISPs to record everything they do online for at least six months to two years and that goes through their financial records like a suspicious spouse looking for signs of wrongdoing.

The next time that you think that you can trust the government to make sure that the Internet works properly, ask yourself if you'd like to have someone who monitors everything you buy, records in detail every place you go, keeps a log of every person you talk to and who coerces the mailman to filter your mail, be the one to make sure that your life runs smoothly. Doesn't sound so good now, does it?