So far in 2014, net neutrality has been one of the most hot button technological issues around. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) knows this. In fact, it asked the public for their thoughts.
And the public spoke loud and clear. So far, well over a million Americans commented on keeping the Internet free and equal. In fact, traffic was so intense the FCC’s platform on this issue had to be temporarily shut down. The last time the FCC saw this much traffic was Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction in Super Bowl 2004. The vast majority of the comments support net neutrality, or some kind of Internet equality. Fifteen percent of those say a pay-to-play Internet will harm the Internet. Nine percent say all content should be equal. Five percent say these new regulations will only help the corporations. Not all were so quick to jump on the net neutrality bandwagon, but 80% were.
My favorite sentiments were, “New regulations allow big business to harm start-ups and the American people,” and “The government is corrupted by corporate interest.” From what I know about this issue, if online companies are allowed to repackage and recharge people, the rich will get richer, consumers will get burned, and those trying to start online companies will probably be hindered. I don’t know how true the ‘government is corrupted by corporate interest’ statement is, but I’m glad people contacted the FCC and let them know how they felt about net neutrality. I’m glad the numbers and comments were so high in favor of neutrality. Maybe Washington will get the message. Come to think of it, I’m glad this message is being sent right before mid-term election time. Let’s keep the pressure up. Maybe them and the corporate technology world will listen. Where do you stand on net neutrality?