The president of a telecommunications trade association warned Dec. 6 any federal intervention in how Internet providers serve customers would be akin to the innovation-draining service of nationalized airlines and railroads of the last century.

USTelecom CEO Walter B. McCormick Jr. described the idea of “net neutrality” — the principle that Internet traffic be treated equally by carriers — as a set of “hypothetical concerns” that would lead to government regulation of the Internet.