Written by Alex Ellis
About 300 years ago, the theories of capitalism began to be founded on ideas such as open exchange and free enterprise. Three centuries later the United States, founded on these ideas, continues to be the dominant world power. Unsurprisingly, most citizens continue to believe in and support the ideas their country was founded on; one of the “American Dreams” is the idea that anyone can start their own business and succeed in a competitive market. However, today there exist organizations that do not want open and free competition. These giant corporations care only about expanding their multi-billion dollar profits, even if it means stamping out small competitors. For this reason, a corporate coalition now stands in a fight against net neutrality.
What is net neutrality? There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding surrounding what net neutrality actually is, especially among those who oppose it. I’ve seen many conservative commenters on internet news pages say things like net neutrality is ”liberals wanting other people to pay for their internet”, or that it is “Obama and the Democrat party’s plan to kill free speech and impose Communism on America”. Both of these, however, are far from the truth.
In reality, net neutrality is much less sinister than what its uninformed opponents would have you believe. In fact, many agree that it is necessary for a well-functioning internet. Because there are already hundreds of other articles explaining net neutrality, I will be brief here: net neutrality is the crazy idea that when you pay for internet access, you should be able to access the WHOLE internet, at the speeds you pay for. It is the theory that when you purchase a product, you should receive exactly that product.
Let’s run through a hypothetical scenario to show why net neutrality is so important. Let’s say Comcast, one of the main opponents of net neutrality, makes a deal with 21st Century Fox, one of the main owners of the TV streaming site Hulu. Fox pays Comcast tens of millions of dollars, and in return Comcast does not allow Comcast internet subscribers to access the website of Hulu’s main competition Netflix. If you are a Netflix subscriber using Comcast you are now out of luck, especially if Comcast is the only internet provider in your area as is common in many places. Netflix users get frustrated and cancel their subscriptions, and Netflix in return either begins to charge more or fails, leaving the internet TV steaming market to be dominated by Hulu; not because Hulu is necessarily better, but because they have more money.
Does this sound bad? It should, and it is only one out of thousands of possible scenarios that could happen. Do you like to read Fox News? Without net neutrality, NBC could pay off the internet service providers so the only news you have access to is the liberal media. Are you a small business owner? Watch out, because big companies in your field could prevent potential customers from accessing your website. Whatever your internet browsing habits are, everyone is at risk without net neutrality.
This isn’t to say we shouldn’t be wary of government interference. It should not be forgotten that the federal government has attempted several times to censor and control the internet – I’m sure people still remember CISPA and PIPA. However, it should also be remembered that mass public outcry defeated both of these bills and made the government think twice about attacking the internet. While ideally the internet would be controlled by no one, it is preferable to leave administration to a group that answers to public pressure and opinion rather than to a group of corporate oligarchs who care only for profit.
While we all may disagree on a wide variety of topics, we all have one thing in common: we love the internet. You’re reading this on the internet right now! As users, we should all be fighting to protect the internet we know and love from anyone who would try to change it – whether it be from governments who want to censor content, or corporations who want to block access. Ultimately when it comes down to the two entities that could potentially control the internet and which would better serve what the people want, the choice is clear: don’t like the ISPs in your area? Spend millions and millions of dollars laying your own cables and starting up a company that MIGHT succeed. Don’t like your government? Take 10 minutes out of your day to stop being a keyboard warrior and go vote. Unless you are a millionaire Comcast CEO, there is no reason for you to oppose net neutrality.
