Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a heated topic from Washington today, and I’ve never really paid attention to it.  Since I do not identify with being very political, I haven’t properly researched or formed an opinion on the matter.  However, it seems that this assignment will force me to do just that.  To me, it seems that net neutrality is common sense; Internet Service Providers shouldn’t be allowed to inhibit upload/download speeds purely based on content or location.  No matter what content providers they partner with, they should not restrict their customers from using competing services.

Whether or not politicians support this issue is a matter of opinion.  However, the fact of the matter is that a large majority of them do not understand net neutrality.  I would even go as far as to say that many don’t understand the internet and other recent technological advances.  There’s a funny and interesting comic from The Oatmeal that details Ted Cruz’s understanding of the matter.  I believe that all data should be treated the same, regardless of origin or destination.  Imagine you’re driving on a four lane highway in a car.  If you have a Japanese car, you can use the left two lanes, but all other types of cars have to go through the one right lane.  Why is it fair for a Japanese car to go through with a free pass, while the speeds of the other cars are being held up?  It makes no sense on a physical highway, so why should it matter on a virtual internet highway?

The big issue here are the ISPs.  They seem to have monopolies in the regions that they operate and therefore can change the prices and inhibit the speeds however they like.  This hurts every one of their customers, and they do nothing to change it.  In their eyes, they are providing a service that works (sometimes), and since they have no competition, there is no reason to change anything.  But once some sort of competition threatens to set up shop, improvement is always found.  I get emails every so often about Comcast (magically) “finding” a higher internet download speed.  Comcast offers about 40 mb/s, but Google Fiber offers up to 1000 mb/s.  I can’t wait for the day where everybody has it.

I believe that the government really needs to take a step back and learn how the internet works in order to get acts and laws passed around it.  It was a big deal that President Obama recently classified internet access as a utility, much like power and water, and we need to treat it as such.  So much is done over the internet nowadays that I believe it should be a basic right.  So many companies conduct business over the internet that it would be immoral to leave anybody out in the dark.  Once society moved to electricity, it was only right to supply every home with it.  It’s just another link in the chain of technological evolution.

So what do I really think of net neutrality? Well, I believe it is a part of a bigger problem that lawmakers, lobbyists, and the general public are ignoring right now.  While it is a big issue, it really shouldn’t be once you realize what it means.  The bigger issue is the regulation of the ISPs and how they handle their clients.