What if you sat down to use the Internet and things were
suddenly different? After catching up on the news at several larger Web sites
you decide to look at your favorite local conservative or liberal blogs. But for
some reason the Web sites will not load properly. You then find yourself having
trouble pulling up a few of your other favorite sites and assume that it's a
problem with your connection.
Eventually, out of frustration you turn
back to the larger, more mainstream Web site and find that, oddly enough, the
Web site loads immediately. Think that this scenario is far-fetched? Well, think
again.
Until now, the Internet has been able to flourish under the
protection of "Net Neutrality." This fundamental protection against the
discrimination of data has ensured that the public has a right and opportunity
to view the smallest blog just as easily as the largest corporate Web
site.
Unfortunately, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently
decided to change the way it enforced rules dealing with the Internet in
response to mounting pressure from phone and cable companies. As a result, there
is no longer a rule or regulation that will prevent companies like AT&T and
Verizon from charging content providers for the right to use their Internet
lines. There is also nothing stopping them from making special deals with some
companies to ensure that their sites and services are faster and easier to
find.
CEOs representing the largest network owners in the country have
made it clear that they intend to create a business model that is explicitly
built upon discriminatory access and pricing on the Internet. Bell South
executive William Smith told the Washington Post that he wants to institute a
"pay for performance" Internet, allowing his company to charge Web sites for the
ability to load faster than their competitors. Both AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre and
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg have echoed Smith's comments.
To prevent
media companies from setting up a discriminatory system on the Internet,
Congress must take action to reinstate "Net Neutrality." This is important if we
want to preserve a medium where newcomers can have an opportunity to exercise
their ideas and make them available to the public on equal footing with big
companies.
The genius of the Internet, and the catalyst of economic
growth, democratic discourse, and social opportunity it has become, is based on
a foundation of nondiscrimination. The Internet market has worked beautifully
because the barriers to entry were low and the status of every actor in the
marketplace remained equal. This is a competitive market at its finest, but it
is premised on that neutral platform. Remove the neutral footing, and the market
tips in favor of network owners.
The best ideas on the Internet have
rarely come from the deepest pockets.
Most of the Internet's big
successes have been spawned by outsiders like the Stanford students who
conceived Google or the Pez hobbyist who wrote the concept for Ebay. That's
because the architecture of the Internet invited anyone to innovate without
discrimination by the corporations that control the wires.
A free and
vibrant media, full of diverse and competing voices, is the lifeblood of
America's democracy and culture, as
well as an engine of growth for its economy. To prevent companies like AT&T,
Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner from setting up a discriminatory system on the
Internet, Congress must take action to reinstate Net Neutrality.
It is
important that Sen. Martinez and Sen. Nelson oppose any telecommunication bill
that fails to reinstate the Internet's founding principle of Web site equality,
"Net Neutrality."
Brad Ashwell is the
Advocate for the Florida Public Interest Research Group (Florida PIRG). To learn
more about this issue, visit
www.floridapirg.org.
