Critics claim that such practices are a slippery slope to letting carriers shut out companies that interfere with their business models. Large-bandwidth consumer Netflix already has to pay carriers like Comcast -- which has its own streaming service -- in order to have enough bandwidth. The President clearly thinks he's on the popular side of that debate, despite vehement opposition by ISPs like Verizon and AT&T.

Many US Republicans are also against net neutrality, with Senator Ted Cruz (who took campaign funds from Comcast) calling it "Obamacare for the internet." All these developments have turned the heat way up on an already boiling issue, and Wheeler told the web companies: "What I've got to figure out is how to split the baby." He'd do well to bear in mind that nothing in recent memory has riled up the electorate like net neutrality.