Net Neutrality to Protect Freedom

There is a silent battle raging in Washington. It is a fight over our ability to freely access and exchange information through our last unbiased medium, the internet. The telecom industry is feverishly buying policy makers and “urging” employees to lobby on their behalf in an attempt to block new, unanimously approved FCC regulations on ISP’s.

The FCC’s plan would ensure internet users’ equal rights to its content, to run legal applications, and access Web sites of their choice while prohibiting broadband providers such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon from selectively blocking or slowing content and discriminating against competitors.

In retribution, ‘Big Telecom’ is sending a message using its highest paid congressperson (John McCain) to submit the ironically named “Internet Freedom Act”, which is anything but. The act states: [The FCC] “shall not propose, promulgate, or issue any regulations regarding the Internet or IP-enabled services.” So in other words, the FCC is not allowed to be the FCC, giving service-providers freedom to control, without checks, any and all bandwidth, connection speed, content, and applications that may be used by consumers or businesses.

Although certain policymakers have misled the public, the scare tactics should be ignored. FCC regulations would only affect the telecom industry and not the internet itself. Opponents also mistakenly believe regulations might slow innovation. Does this include censoring, blocking, and/or stifling applications such as VoIP, Google Voice, and legal peer-to-peer networking applications by companies such as AT&T and Comcast? Regulation preventing such acts, according to a number of studies, will not only lower prices and guarantee higher performance overall, but also open the web to more users allowing people to share ideas and programs, accelerating innovation and investment. AT&T’s own two year experiment in 2006 with neutrality rules brought about greater increases in investment than any other ISP in America.

Within the new marketplace ideas and values can be created from anywhere. People from all over can sell items and share ideas free from corporations and middle-men. Absence of regulation over the ISP’s will give discretion to Big Telecom to ensure monopoly-like favoritism to the highest bidder over the smaller, independent competition.

The web should not be used solely as another money making machine. It is here to contribute value and help share ideas. What deregulation means to these companies is not freedom from some fictitious dictatorial power; they already have more rights than citizens. To Big Telecom, deregulation means not being held accountable for their irresponsible and inevitably oppressive actions. What has deregulation of corporatization really given us, besides robbing us of laws designed to protect the environment, worker safety, and consumer rights? Absence of regulation would continue to put the majority of resources into the hands of fewer and fewer very powerful media outlets creating an effect opposite that of the free market.

Too often we forget that the power in a democracy rests in the hands of its people. Votes are worth more to your congressperson than any amount of campaign donations telecom can dole out. So call, write, or email your representatives; remind them that their loyalty is to the people and not big business. Tell them to support net neutrality.

- Michael A. Burger

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~ by michaelburger on February 7, 2010.