Harlan Ellison is a big fat idiot
Actually, according to the WSJ article, he's more like a short, thin idiot, but nonetheless, he's an idiot.
Techdirt's "Harlan Ellison's Misguided Claims Against AOL" sums up the WSJ article nicely.
I've read Mr. Ellison's works - the good ones are really good. It's hard to believe that he does not understand what a "common carrier" is. It is much easier to believe that he chooses not to.