The most important issue in the presidential election is not the war in Iraq: It is net neutrality
January 28th, 2008
Net neutrality is about allowing the telcos to dictate prices on a case-by-case basis instead of equal pricing for all consumers. What this means is that Google - a company I dislike - has a high stock price and without net neutrality AT&T (or whoever their local carrier is) can hike up the price of bandwidth just for Google. As much as I disagree with Google, they should not be hamstrung by their internet carrier and neither should any other online business.
While the Republicans are in favor of creating a business-safe environment their fear of government controls is clearly clouding their judgment on this issue.
“When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment.” -Sen John McCain
Mr. McCain, I agree 100%. You should absolutely get a profit for your work. You should not be able to screw companies over on a case-by-case basis when you are a utility.
While the telcos merge to become the all-new-all-different… AT&T… uh… wait… it’s not new, it’s not different and this company was already broken apart once for anticompetitive practices. Why would anyone expect them to behave differently?
Ok, people can change and businesses are made of people so maybe AT&T can change. Though my experience with them just a couple years ago says different. AT&T bought out Comcast, the local cable TV supplier and the customer service was horrible. Rates were increased. And soon AT&T sold the Sacramento area back to Comcast. There were investigations launched to determine what the hell went on there because the whole thing stunk and a lot of consumers got screwed.
So, maybe they’ve changed in the last couple of years and really have our best interests at heart.
Why would they be lobbying for anything other than net neutrality then?
Net neutrality means everyone who competes online gets the same pricing based on fair market conditions. These conditions and price ranges are set by the government which is unfortunate though I don’t see a better alternative.
Removing net neutrality creates a hostile business environment and severely damages smaller businesses ability to compete. Removing net neutrality also creates an opportunity to reduce the freedom of speech that is enjoyed online.
This is why the Republicans are Wrong and why Net Neutrality is the Most Important Issue in this Presidential Election
If a competitor to the local telco starts building traction all the telco has to do is increase their rates to limit the competitor or completely wipe them out. Telcos are into many different services including the familiar long-standing telephone service.
Telcos offer Internet Service Provider (ISP) services. The ISP market is competitive and eliminating net neutrality would destroy that increasing internet access costs for general consumers and businesses.
Consider other services (I found all of these on AT&T’s website): Email, DNS, Digital TV (think: SureWest), VoIP Phone (think: Vonage), Managed IT Services/Networking, Website Hosting, Hosting and Application Services, VPN Services, IP Blocks, Specialized Software Engineering, and Integrated Solutions.
As more jobs are being outsourced away from the United States, giving telcos dictator-like power over what companies survive online seems pretty stupid to me.
Now consider a website that speaks against telcos (like this one is doing right now). To eliminate this “threat” a telco can just increase costs of bandwidth for that one site.
Consider education and how it is flourishing online. Now consider politics. If a politician wants to eliminate websites dedicated to an issue he opposes, he can make a deal with the telcos to surge-price those websites.
This is giving away too much power to people that have a demonstrated lack of character or regard for anyone beyond themselves. Even in the current environment telcos charge outrageous prices for simple services - just ask anyone that works in a data center. Connecting one carrier to another comes with a price tag of $800 per month for 3 feet of cable. Local loop charges are even more extreme.
Like I said at the start, I agree telcos should be able to make a profit. That’s good business and good for the economy. Being able to control the flow of communication within the US with price-gouging should be beyond the power of telcos.
Republicans should remember why they hate taxes
Taxes increase costs and damage a business’ ability to compete effectively. Giving telcos the power to price-gouge is effectively letting an independent business with no controls the ability to “tax” at will.
Why the War is Not as Important as Net Neutrality
There are two reasons the war in Iraq is not as important as net neutrality:
1. The war is temporary. It may drag on longer than you like but eventually it will be complete, or as complete as we decide to make it and we’ll move on. Net neutrality is an issue that will directly affect every American and every generation of American from here on out.
2. None of the politicians really know what to do about Iraq but they can all do something about net neutrality.
I am a long-standing Republican and I will absolutely vote for the candidate that stands for net neutrality - even if they are a Democrat. I hope, pray and suggest that anyone who reads this does so also.