Net Neutrality affects anyone who wants to make a living online, whether with a blog or as a writer for other blogs and websites. What is it exactly? Net neutrality is the idea that the Internet remains a neutral ground for all, where everyone can compete fairly and get their content seen. It levels the playing field, letting the little fish compete on equal ground with the big fish. Small internet businesses may not be able to tackle big companies on the street, but on the Web, individuals can compete with their wits and talents, regardless of budget size. Net neutrality is the key to small business success online.
Lobbies Against Net Neutrality
The large telecommunication companies like Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner and Comcast, have been lobbying to force online businesses to pay a toll for faster web traffic. Those without the funds to pay to tolls would experience slower page loading, or no loading at all. Imagine the damage this would do for your day-to-day productivity!
Information Superhighway Tolls
The idea is sort of like a toll highway. The large telecommunication companies figure they can collect a toll from online businesses to let them use the information superhighway. Business would have to pay for the level of speed they want for traffic traveling into their site. With all the time and effort put towards making the Internet faster, these companies actually want to slow it down for those not able (or willing) to pay a fee.
Protect the User Experience
Slower internet surfing would result in visitors clicking a link and having the page inaccessible or too slow. Most visitors will simply go to another site that will load faster. The user experience would be frustrated, trying to find a link that actually loads quickly. It will bring us back to the old days of dial up, sitting there tapping your fingers waiting for a page to load. Startups would have a hard time coming up with revenue to pay for fast traffic, resulting in stifled innovation and less vibrant competition.
Support Legislation
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act allocated $7.2 billion for expanding broadband access and includes conditions for an open Internet on all broadband networks constructed using public money.
But more legislation is needed to ensure the open Internet is enforced among all networks, not just those that take federal money. The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009 (H.R. 3458) aims to do just that.
If you would like to help ensure the Internet remains neutral, call your Congress representative and tell him or her to endorse the Act. This can be done more easily by visiting SaveTheInternet.com. This site will also help you send a note to President Obama asking for his support of the bill.
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