In a statement on Monday morning, November 10, 2014, US President Barak Obama urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to support net neutrality. The President says that will keep the Internet free for all companies and people.
The message says that mega cable and Internet conglomerates should not decide which sites the consumer can or can’t visit. Though President Obama stressed the FCC is an independent organization, let’s read behind the lines. He’s really giving FCC Tom Wheeler and his sympathizers the green light to take no prisoners when it comes to net neutrality issues. Earlier this year, Wheeler tried to come up with a compromise, allowing Internet companies to sell faster service to anyone willing to pay. But the President’s statement is a win for Internet activists everywhere, and for small Internet companies who can’t afford to pay for faster service, much less compete with the big boys. The set of rules the President asked for include the following: no blocking (your Internet service provider can’t block a website so long as that website is legal), no throttling (they can’t slow down websites and speed up others at their choosing), and ‘no paid prioritization’ (no service should be stuck in a slow lane because of inability to pay). You know major cable companies aren’t happy about this. I’m sure come 2015, they’re going to send lobbyist to plea with the newly controlled Republican congress do swing this in their favor.
But the FCC is an independent organization, remember? So what good is lobbying and bribing going to do? I’m glad President Obama made this statement. The Internet has been open and free for all for around twenty years. Shouldn’t we leave well enough alone? If net neutrality isn’t enforced, major corporations are bound to censor what we can or can’t watch, download, or where we can’t do business, not because of racy content, but because it doesn’t line up with their already fat bank accounts. Shouldn’t the Internet be fair for all humanity and all competitors? Doesn’t corporate America have enough control over our lives?