Like The Sopranos, we all knew this saga had to end eventually – so without further ado, we present the last of the Deadly Sins of Net Neutrality:

“Net Neutrality puts the Federal Government in charge of deciding which innovations will be allowed on the Internet and when.”

Unlike the proverbial father of sitcom stardom, the federal government does not always know best (not even when they tip you off to Phil Leotardo’s whereabouts). Even when they have the best intentions, our friends in Washington have rarely been known to exercise a light touch when it comes to regulation. As Dr. David Farber, who Wired magazine once called the “Paul Revere of the digital revolution,” stated,

“The problem is that it can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine in advance whether a particular practice would promote or harm competition. Blanket regulation, which some network neutrality initiatives support, is not a good policy choice.”

Congress is simply not in a position to predict and set the future course of the Internet, as supporters of net neutrality are asking it to do. And by legislating what the Internet can and cannot do, net neutrality legislation will only serve to stifle future evolution and innovation, which is the grandest sin of them all.