This week, the notion of Net neutrality failed to move forward in the US House of Representatives. The Net neutrality amendment, which was before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, had backing from software and content companies like Microsoft and Google and opposition from Verizon, AT&T, and other telecomm companies.
The term Net neutrality refers to the idea that all traffic on the Internet receives equal treatment. At stake is the telecomm industry’s desire to create essentially a two-tier delivery system in which some traffic (say, that from higher paying vendors or preferred partners) gets a better, faster delivery channel than that from others.
It’s all about the free market, say those opposed to the idea of Net neutrality. If someone wants to pay more for a premium service, well, what’s wrong with that? And besides, isn’t the Internet already regulated anyway?
Supporters of the amendment argue that government intervention is needed to keep the Net open and free for all – and that it’s not just about keeping it open to diverse views and individuals either. By ensuring Net neutrality, we are also ensuring that innovative ideas and concepts have a chance to grow. Would there be an eBay if equal access was blocked to its founders? If Google had to pay large transmission fees, would “to google” be a verb? Blogging, podcasting, family home pages, VoIP, the list of applications that could grow and develop because of the open and equal access of the Net goes on and on.
One of my favorite points from the debate is this, from Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA):
Did the Bells create the Internet? Did the cable companies create the Internet? The answer is no. The Internet was built on a different model, a public interest model, funded by American taxpayers.
That is the core of the issue: who owns the Net? Did the US Government fund its development? Without question! Did private enterprise build upon this work? Without question!
Which still leaves us with the question: who owns the Net?
The Net is a beautiful concept in which lots of distributed pieces add up to a huge whole with built in redundancy and flexibility. The taxpayers funded the Net. Private enterprise funded the Net. The interconnection of it all is what makes it work.
In the end, we have something larger than anyone ever expected. (Well, except maybe science fiction fandom, but that’s a story for another day.) We have a new medium.
This isn’t a just a discussion about who owns which bit of fiber. Or which bit of fiber is faster. It’s about another kind of fiber – the fiber that holds together the 21st century world we have created and continue to craft.
Which is why Net neutrality is such an important issue. Heck, I don’t know if this particular amendment was the right solution – but I do know that if we care about using our voices, fostering innovation, and encouraging interaction, then we do need to care about fair and equal use of what is, at least in part, a public resource developed by our shared tax dollars.
So, here’s that question again ... Who owns the Net? We do. And we need to be sure it stays that way for the advancement of us all.
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