Why China's filtering system won't appear in the U.S.

Based on a (previously discuss) study (PDF alert!)by the Open Net Initiative, it is clear that China has a very comprehensive and overreaching internet filter, which is regulated by the government (targeted at sites politically opposed to the Communist government). While this is obviously bad for the Chinese, the main question I have to ask myself is whether or not this is possible in the U.S. The main passage:

China has a complex, overlapping system of laws, regulations, and informal methods that attempts to prevent the creation and distribution of banned material. At the technological level, the state employs a sophisticated infrastructure that filters content at multiple levels and that tolerates overblocking as the price of preventing access to prohibited sites.

In order for this to work in the United States, the government would either need to completely take over regulation of the internet, which is highly unlikely, as it would be an incredibly controversial move which would be fought hard by the ISPs (think Bob Barr teaming with the ACLU PLUS Comcast, Time Warner etc.) or major internet companies would need to be complicit in the filtering process. This second option seems slightly more plausible, but due to the nature of a competitive market in the U.S., a company could advertise that, unlike the large internet providers, it did not block content. This could be a huge selling point, and would be a serious check on any company that wanted to block access to certain information.

The recent Supreme Court decision causes a little bit of concern, but with emerging technologies like wi-fi and even Microwave satellite technology, make me less worried.

All in all, I wish the best for the Chinese and their plight against an oppressive government, but for now, in the U.S., I think our access to the internet is pretty safe. For now.