There's nothing eloquent about this argument, it's a sound byte that reflects a typical "durrr free market" knee-jerk reaction. They sound like the words of a man who's been intentionally duped by the ISP lobby.<p>First, we've got an Illinois farmer claiming "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" when clearly there's something massively broken about the cost / performance ratio of our internet service.<p>Second, he's also confusing innovation in the ISP world with innovation in the tech startup world. He uses the example of improvements in farming (tech startups) as a reason why we need the internet (ISPs) to be de-regulated. This makes no sense.<p>Because we've completely forgotten the meaning of antitrust laws, deregulation these days doesn't mean competition and innovation, it means monopoly. If we're not going to fix antitrust, then the next best thing we've got is declaring the internet a utility.<p>Where we absolutely need to continue nurturing innovation is in the tech world, which relies on internet service being stable and fast and universally available.<p>Since when have we been hurting for a lack of innovation in the water, electricity, and phone utilities? The services that these companies provide to customers haven't changed in decades, and that's fine.<p>It's the businesses which depend on utilities that are in need of constant competition and innovation, and they can't do that if they and their customers can't have a guarantee of service.