Recently, the FCC effectively announced that it will rethink its regarding net neutrality, which can essentially be understood as whether regulation of the Internet should be controlled by the government or the free market. For my friends who don’t follow the politics of the Internet, this is a big deal. What if, 100 years ago, the government had decided that roads (the major technological transformation that shaped our economy) were not a public good? What if all roads became, in effect, toll roads. It is almost impossible to imagine how this would have impeded economic growth.
Many of the same arguments can be made for net neutrality. Sure, we can defend net neutrality in terms of its contributions to democracy. But we can also defend it–more effectively I believe–in economic terms. Essentially, we recognize that the Internet is the new space for economic mobility. We are transferring regulation of the Internet to private telecommunication corporations. A little over 30 years ago, the government stepped in to break up AT&T. But their monopoly pales in comparison to what we are about to hand companies such as Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner.
The dangerous part is that it is not likely that consumers will see immediate changes. Your internet costs aren’t going to double over night (but recent indications suggest they will slowly increase, see Noonan’s piece at the Motley Fool). But the recent legal decisions and the FCC’s policy changes mean that Internet Service Providers will have the ability to raise prices AND regulate content. And that does not end well.
So what can we do? A few years ago, facing the SOPA legislation, the Internet essentially shut down for a day in protest. And that had results. But it doesn’t look like that is how it will go down this time, as David Dyden writes in the New Republic, it looks like Google has as much to gain from this move as any of the other service providers (unlike with SOPA, which would have been an incredible pain in the ass for them).
So what can we do? First, follow and support the EFF (Electronic Freedom Foundation), pretty much the only group out there with any measure of influence trying to fight the privatization of the net. The EFF have a feed dedicated to net neutrality. Second, please take a few minutes to submit a comment to the FCC regarding the importance of net neutrality. These are public comments, and as the EFF points out, the FCC is required to post them and respond to them. If anything, you can contribute to a statistic on the number of citizens concerned with net neutrality. If you want, simply copy and paste the statement:
“Please continue to defend the open Internet and net neutrality. The Internet should be protected as a public good.”
Here’s the submission URL: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/display?z=636or
But, third, you can pay attention. You can share news items. The advantage of a digital democracy is that we the people can actually voice concerns. If we are loud enough, then media might actually pay attention. If we support politicians like Bernie Sanders who point to these problems, then others might parrot them (sorry, perhaps too cynical) or actually invest themselves in those projects. It is only hopeless if you think, and act, as if it is.
Net Neutrality: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/net-neutrality
