It all comes down to power.
Internet service providers want the right to dictate who gets preference over the Internet.
Content providers such as Google and Netflix, on the other hand, are fearful of the shrinking field of ISPs and the power they hold.
In the corner of the Internet providers — Verizon Communications, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Comcast — is the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, which has responsibility over broadband networks.
In the other corner for Google and small startups is President Barack Obama, who contends there should be “no toll roads on the information superhighway.”
Because increasingly fewer internet providers exist due to massive buyouts, they are taking on monopoly-like powers to control the Internet’s bandwidth.
Impediments include the slowing down of data speeds of certain users and higher fees in return for priority treatment such as making sure your site is at the top of search lists, and providing better access to companies that advertise with the media conglomerates.
Obama has some credible allies, including Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, who say the public, not broadband gatekeepers, should determine the success of a product or program and that all information should be treated equally.
But it’s not. Last year, Comcast raised the rates on Netflix by millions of dollars — simply because it could. During negotiations, Comcast slowed down the bandwidth of Netflix users, forcing it to cry uncle.
Republicans, of course, say the president is pushing for more big government.
“Net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas thorn.
The Internet, of course, is not a government program, but a free market enterprise in danger of becoming dominated by a powerful few.
The goal is to gain greater competition among AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al., so they can’t manipulate rates, which will only serve the purpose of limiting service.
It’s Teddy Roosevelt and the railroads all over again.
— Susan Lynn
Internet wars brewing
