In a country where large corporations routinely hold sway over consumer choice, the attack last week on Internet neutrality was stunning.
At least there will be a public comment period allowing users to have a voice, if only it will be heard.
For several years, we’ve been aware of the importance of net neutrality without really knowing what that might mean or what might be threatening it. The principle puts Internet users, not Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in control, ensuring that providers can’t speed up, slow down or block web content based on its source or ownership.
The policy is important because the Internet has become an essential service to most Americans, who rely on it for the most basic daily affairs such as applying for a job or running a small business.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has the authority to protect all Internet users by requiring ISPs to continue to treat all web users equally.
So who could oppose that? Well, giant telecom companies loathe the whole idea of net neutrality and have a significant financial incentive to get rid of it.
The power these corporations wield and the pressure of political influence appear to be causing government regulators to back off.
Despite claims from FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and others to support a free and open Internet, the kind of discrimination allowed by the FCC’s proposed rules would seem to be incompatible with net neutrality. It all smells of politics.
It’s obvious that the FCC is responding to the political influence. The proposal is moving through the approval process at the FCC along with an alternative path to “reclassify” the Internet as a public utility.
The agency has the power to enforce strong net neutrality rules but to do so it must go through the process of undoing the Bush-era decision to deregulate broadband instead of treating it like the utility it has become for most users.
Instead, the FCC is proposing weak rules that appear to regulate broadband but in reality will provide very little if any protection.
As a candidate, President Obama pledged to be a strong defender of net neutrality but he seems now to be taking a back seat in this fight. The time has come for him to make a more positive stand in blocking this blatant corporate takeover of the Internet.
A recent piece in “The Nation” calls for the FCC to say no to an Internet slow lane.
“Big Telecom wants to make your Internet look a lot more like cable TV where they pick and choose what you can watch. They’re trying to force you to watch the content they own by slowing everything else to a standstill.”
I believe “The Nation” has it right. Every time two large corporations merge into a gigantic one, we’re told consumers will have more choice but somehow it never works out that way. With larger size comes more power and less incentive to court customers and public opinion. They fuse, we lose.
By scheduling public comment on the issue, the FCC has acknowledged pushback from Internet users advocating an alternative that would overturn the Bush-era deregulation and reclassify the Internet as a public utility. Those of us who cherish equal access should respond by backing this alternative.
So what can one do? Flood the FCC comment system with demands to reject a divided Internet with fast lanes for wealthy corporations and slow lanes for the rest of us.
The White House issued a statement in response to the FCC vote stating it would be “watching closely as the process moves forward in hopes that the final rule stays true to the spirit of net neutrality.”
But it’s not enough to hope that everything turns out okay. Wheeler is Obama’s appointee, and the President should intervene, if necessary, to make good on his promise to back net neutrality.
For those who don’t understand the importance of speed, the recent TV documentary describing computer stock transactions enhanced by a private cable that gives a few-second advantage to brokerage firms is an eye opener.
And recent mergers of cable companies have proven to limit, rather than enhance, viewer options even as prices rise.
Internet users with jobs and families may feel they’re too busy to get involved but that’s what the telecom industry is counting on: disengaged and trusting customers.
It’s time to take a stand for equality and to hold government accountable for protecting net neutrality.