Shouldn't We All Own the Internet?

Renewed bickering over net neutrality south of the border.

"Time Warner Cable tells FCC to shut up about net neutrality."

Apparently there's a bunch of stimulus money headed for broadband infrastructure development, and the FCC is saying it should be spent in the interest of maintaining an open an universally accessible internet. Telcos, as usual, are much more interested in net profits than net neutrality, and they're telling the FCC to go screw themselves. As you would expect, telcos want to get their hands on that stimulus money as quickly as possible and with as few attached strings as possible.

So if the US government really wants to invest in a open and accessible internet for all, why don't they just spend the stimulus money on public broadband network infrastructure? Maybe just go straight to 3G wireless for everyone in the country. Highways and most other critical infrastructure are publicly owned, why shouldn't the "information superhighway" be as well? Stimulus investment seems like the perfect opportunity to make this a reality. I wouldn't give the telcos a single penny of stimulus money.