Net Neutrality, Title II and You
This morning I started off my streaming day with a half an hour long talk about this topic. As I know many will not sit through that much time, let me provide the TL;DW version here.
Let’s first define what Net Neutrality is. Net Neutrality is the principle that every packet and frame of data transmitted over the internet is done at the same speed as every other, and no company has the right to slow or speed up any of that data unfairly. A very dry, boring concept with frighteningly incredible consequences if infringed upon.
There have been many myths and falsehoods being perpetuated not only by Ajit Pai but other influencers like the founders of Gab. I wanted to address these directly, as someone who’s currently in the industry, as well as someone who’s been around since the infancy of the Internet.
The first, and biggest, is the concept that Net Neutrality was never needed before, and in fact did not exist before. This is a flat out lie. Prior to the modern era of broadband internet, in the days of dial-up, all telecommunications companies fell under heavy regulation to prevent predatory, unfair business tactics. These laws had been in place for some time, and were written at a time where politicians were a bit more honest. The reason the Internet thrived at its infancy was, in fact, because of this legislation.
Since the laws are vast, I’m not going to delve into them. To simplify them for the purpose of this article, phone providers must allow access to their lines to anyone who can pay. This includes people who could provide competing services. The reason this was done is so that big corporations couldn’t just wire an entire state, then squeeze out smaller, local telecom companies by preventing them access to the larger phone grid. It forced the phone services to standardize so that everyone had an open, even playing field. It was into this protected environment that the Internet was born.
Because of these laws, you saw the rise of not only national ISPs like AOL, but small, local companies like the one I used to pay for my own Internet service in the late 90’s. Since that company could pay for the phone lines to be run into their office, they could in turn resell that service as a data line for consumers. Again, regulation allowed competition.
Many will say that no ISP since has dared do anything predatory in terms of manipulating data. Again, this is a flat out lie. The reason the Obama administration took the actions it did was due to Comcast intentionally slowing data sent by Netflix to their customers in an attempt to make Netflix pay them for access. This despite Netflix paying for their own bandwidth to broadcast their content, and Comcast customers paying Comcast to get access to that content. And it goes deeper than that.
Comcast owns NBC Universal. NBC Universal owns a large stake in Hulu. And Hulu is a direct competitor to Netflix in the content streaming arena. Without regulation, Comcast would have the right to prevent a competitor from having equal access to its customers. They would have the right to shape traffic so that Hulu would have a distinct advantage that Netflix would have no method of overcoming. And if you think AT&T is poised to be an alternative, realize they plan to merge with Time Warner, better known now after its merger with Charter as Spectrum. And Spectrum has its own in-house streaming services it will want you using.
Twenty years ago, the laws protected consumers. In that time, due to lobbying by cable companies, there has been no progress to extend that same protection to broadband services. Because of that, the market is now about to be dominated by three massive corporations. Corporations already guilty of anti-consumer practices. These companies want Net Neutrality gone, regardless what they say. They want to write the laws in the same way the health care industry has written their own. They have their control already firmly in place over the market. Ajit Pai is lying to you. An open and free market can only exist when the rules apply to everyone.
As for personal choice, let me tell you something. Corporations don’t fear your ability to choose. Long ago, they divided up the country, and refuse to compete with one another. Competition is expensive, and they are already a multi-billion dollar industry. Comcast alone is valued at almost $200 billion.
They don’t fear you. They don’t care about you. They own the market, and you either go through them or go without. They fear legislation. They fear consumer protection. They fear government interference on behalf of the consumer. That’s why laws need to be made, and those laws need to be written by the people, not the corporations.
Don’t fall for the lies. Fight to keep the Internet a free and open place. Fight to have regulations created to protect consumers. Contact your local government, whether you are American or not. Make them be your voice. If you are in the US, go here, now: www.battleforthenet.com
A final thought. In centuries past, books were the domain of the rich, and reading a mark of wealth. When the printing press came to be, it broke that structure down, and allowed for everyone to have access to the knowledge contained in those books. As much as that was a watershed moment, the Internet is many more times that. It opened communications globally, allowed for even faster sharing of information. It allows anyone to tell their story, share their view, near instantly with the world. It grants power to the powerless. Without rabid defense to access of it, you are letting the rich once more gain control of what you see and hear. Don’t let them.
Fight.
