The right wasn't always opposed to regulations protecting online innovation

To understand today's network neutrality debate, it is important to understand the history of how of the government has regulated the telecom industry.

Beginning in the 1970s, the federal government deregulated the industry, paving the way for the modern internet. But when people talked about deregulation back in the 1970s, they meant something different from the concept liberals hate -- and conservatives love -- today. This history has important implications for the modern network neutrality debate. Today, most conservatives portray any regulation of incumbent phone and cable companies as an assault on the free market. But a previous generation of right-leaning policymakers had a different view. They understood that the free market can't work without competition, and that competition sometimes requires active support from the government.