By Scott St. Clair | The Save Jersey Blog
To paraphrase former President Ronald Reagan: Government regulation of the Internet won’t be a solution to the problem, it will be the problem.
So-called “net neutrality” is the first step on the road to government control and censorship of Internet content, not to mention an immediate imposition of greater cost to Internet users and new layers of government bureaucracy
The government, the technically brain-dead people who brought you Obamacare’s crash-happy website debacle, the fiascos of Solyndra and other allegedly “high-tech” green energy boondoggles, NSA snooping through our emails and the mysterious destruction of Lois Lerner’s and other government employees emails they were required by law to safeguard.
Who in his or her right mind trusts these people to keep the Internet free?
But, we’re told, ISP’s want to charge more for higher-speed content delivery, so one-size-fits-all access must be the rule. Perish the thought that innovation might have a cost! That thinking demands we also abolish first-class air travel since it’s “unfair” that some passengers can pay more to get comfortable seats, additional leg room and complimentary cocktails.
As it stands now, cheap, high-speed and reliable online access is available almost everywhere in the United States. Let’s keep it that way by keeping the government’s regulatory mitts off of the Internet.
Right, just let the Internet providers control the flow and access of content, especially that which they own and slow and deny content of the competition. If given “free market” control the providers i.e. cable companies will destroy the Internet the way cable television is basically a “vast wasteland.’ We pay for cable stations AND are still bombarded with commercials. We need a good Republican like Teddy Roosevelt to bust up the monopolies.
@Theodore Trust busting is one thing; telling the private sector that it can’t charge different prices for different products is goofy.
The question is would I be able to purchase my content at the “market” price or be denied access to particular content. Look at how cable TV bundles programming which you are forced to purchase. If there is an a la carte system available to the consumer free form censorship, that would work. But there should not be slowing down or denial of service from websites just because I refuse to pay for the lowest common denominator service they would provide at a higher fee. http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/watch-net-neutrality-al-franken-ted-cruz-video/
There is only one product involved – bandwidth. ISPs do not provide anything other than bandwidth. And they currently sell the same product to multiple people at the same time. Heaven forbid if everyone on the same block decided to use all of the bandwidth they were paying for at the same time. Nobody would get what they are paying for.
There are 2 wires coming from the street to my house that can provide bandwidth (actually three, but PSEG isn’t providing IP services over power lines yet). One is a piece of fiber owned by Verizon, the other is a piece of coax owned by Comcast. Neither of those companies is required to allow me to purchase my bandwidth from another provider, like I can with energy via electric lines. Both of them have a government granted monopoly over the physical delivery system that is able to reach my home. Monopolies, once granted, deserve to be regulated.
Thank-you Mr. Miller for the clarification.