Liberals Mugged by Obamanet

[Commentary] When Google’s Eric Schmidt called White House officials to oppose President Obama ’s demand that the Internet be regulated as a utility, they told him to buzz off. The chairman of the company that led lobbying for “net neutrality” learned the Obama plan made in its name instead micromanages the Internet. Schmidt is not the only liberal mugged by the reality of Obamanet, approved on party lines by the Federal Communications Commission. The 300-plus pages of regulations remain secret, but as details leak out, liberals have joined the opposition to ending the Internet as we know it. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler justified Obamanet by saying the Internet is “simply too important to be left without rules and without a referee.” He got it backward: Light-handed regulation made today’s Internet possible. The silver lining is a valuable lesson for Silicon Valley executives who thought it was safe to lobby for net neutrality, but instead got Obamanet: The only place on the Internet for Washington regulators is at arm’s length.