You say nobody has a legal monopoly and then say the gov tolerates de facto monopolies. There's a tortured logic in there trying to escape.

The general solution to the a problem created by regulation is less regulation, in my opinion.If partial deregulation is floundering then deregulate and let the market determine how it reforms.

I heard an NPR interview of the FCC chairman concerning this issue. He argued that "net neutrality" is a misnomer. The regulations, in his opinion, stifle innovation on the provider side He argues that the best way to get networks into underserved communities is to allow a free-for-all fight among providers to wire the last remaining underserved areas: some metropolitan neighborhoods and rural areas. According to him, "net neutrality" provides no incentive to wire underserved areas.

The issue of the pipeline company also owning refineries and oil wells is a good point. For some reason, oil production companies don't like owning pipelines but do like owning refineries. I don't get it. Concerning pipelines, I think they actually will transport any fluid from any origin compatible with their infrastructure. Many of the local ones are dedicated -- to or from a particular refinery. But the big pipes from say, Texas to NJ carry multiple products from various sources. I do not know their pricing structure but I bet it is like an electric utility, which has one price for small customers and decreasing prices for larger customers.