The Wrong Way to further the Spread of Broadband Internet

THE WRONG WAY TO FURTHER THE SPREAD OF BROADBAND INTERNET
[SOURCE: CNet|News.com, AUTHOR: Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)]
[Commentary] The Internet is the most important new communications platform in American history. Through an open Internet, ordinary individuals can directly reach an audience of hundreds of millions of people around the world with their words, music, art, photography and literature--with just about any kind of creation imaginable. That freedom for ordinary people to connect with one another has led to some remarkable innovation. But recently the freedom of ordinary people to connect with one another has come under attack. A few large corporations don't seem to value the Internet's empowerment of individuals and are asserting a desire to control technology. The latest chapter in that attack on freedom is the fight against network neutrality. For most Americans, our options for broadband Internet come down to two choices--a phone company or a cable company. Instead of continuing our freedom to use those connections with whatever content, devices and services we want, some corporations want to control what we access over the Internet. This would include giving better connections to their favored content, and charging money for that privilege. What would the world look like if the Internet had been controlled in this way a few years ago? Imagine if the students who created Google or Yahoo had been charged a fee by a phone company for the privilege of letting their potential users have fast access. These small projects would not have turned into big ideas that revolutionized the World Wide Web. The proposed control of content goes directly against the level playing field created by Internet technology. The concept of freedom written about by Thomas Paine is being challenged by this threat to net neutrality. The Internet has revolutionized the way Americans communicate with one another and do business. It's just common sense to keep that revolution where it belongs--in the hands of ordinary individuals, instead of a handful of big corporations. Americans' Internet freedom depends on it.
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