Never let it be said that Congress never did anything for you.

In recent weeks, the Senate Commerce Committee has been holding hearings about handset exclusivity. That’s when a phone maker (like Apple) offers a particular model (like the iPhone) to a carrier (like AT&T) exclusively for a period of time (like five years).

Come to think about it, that example  the iPhone  is pretty much the only one anybody cares about. These aren’t handset-exclusivity hearings; they’re “Why can’t we have the iPhone on Verizon?” hearings.

Look, it’s great that our elected officials are looking out for us. The last time Congress got involved, we wound up with phone-number portability, meaning that you can keep your number when you switch phone companies. That’s unequivocally a good thing.

But the exclusivity point is not such a slam-dunk. Sure, everybody would love a Verizon iPhone. But there are some valid arguments against banning exclusivity deals altogether.