[thissideup]

Yeah the government's goal is totally a "free and open Internet."

Except that part of the government dedicated to vacuuming up and storing and analyzing every signal from every network-enabled device on the planet.

[ceejayoz]

That has nothing to do with whether or not it's a utility. They're clearly already capable of doing so.

[thissideup]

Explain how the two ideas aren't related.

[thissideup]

It would be more accurate to say that regulation is an avenue for legitimizing surveillance.

It's purpose is to turn an unconstitutional program into a legal system for enforcing regulatory compliance.