The Internet is Going Down the Tubes

Access to the internet has become a vital component of how people get information and consume media.  It is imparative that consumers have unfettered access to any content that they desire. As media consumption continues to shift to the internet as the primary means, we are beginning to see the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) also become media companies.  Think of Comcast owning NBC.  Comcast as a company has a vested interest in consumers viewing and consuming the content that Comcast produces. This is where Net Neutrality comes in to play.  Net Neutrality is a law that prevents your ISP from increasing your bandwidth when you consume content that the ISP has a vested interest in, and decreasing your bandwidth when you consume content that the ISP does not have an interest in.  As Chris Altman explains with this infographic:

There have already been real world implications with ISPs slowing down their customer's internet service when they streamed Netflix. This was an attempt to coerce those customers into using media services more vital to Comcast's interests.  This forced Netflix to pay Comcast a fee to end the bandwidth throttling.

Another example of how Comcast is hurting the consumer is with the introduction of their data caps.  More and more consumer behaviors are headed towards streaming media content rather than purchasing a typical cable television plan.  This has negatively affected companies such as Comcast and Time Warner.  Comcast recently introduced data caps for their home broadband service, and these data caps will punish customers that primarily use apps such as Netflix and Hulu to watch TV.  Where Net Neutrality comes into play beyond slowing down broadband speeds when customer's stream Netflix, is through Comcast's new Stream TV service.  Comcast has stated that Stream TV will not count against customer's data caps.  This is an example of leveraging assets to create an unfair competitive advantage.  Comcast is both an ISP and a media conglomerate and should not be able to leverage their position as an ISP to encourage customers to use their media services.  Both should compete on their own merits.

A recent, less overtly insidious example, is Verizon's new "Sponsored Data" program.  While at first blush, this program seems like a great benefit to Verizon's customers.  There are a lot of streaming services that use up a customer's mobile data plan, and if a company wants to give Verizion money to provide it's customer's a better experience, then that is capitalism at it's best.  The problem with this sponsored data program is that it restricts the ability of any startup company to provide any competition.  Imagine if Apple Music was around when Spotify was just getting started in the United States.  If Apple could pay Verizon to have Apple Music streams not count against a Verizon customer's data limits, Apple would now have an unreasonable advantage over the startup.

There are many implications, far beyond commercial interest, that arise when access can be purchased.  If there are political agendas that a particular ISP favors, and they use their bandwidth to help the politician that favors that agenda and hurt the politician that does not support that agenda, we are now in a space where ISPs control access to information.  Some people will argue that ISPs should not be treated as a utility, because it will reduce innovation.  It is vital that that ISPs are treated as a utility because giving corporations the ability to restrict access to content they deem not in their interest is an affront to the the common welfare.

ISPs and many conservatives will argue that the federal government has no right regulated that large of a portion of the US economy, and that the internet has been able to flourish with little regulation up to this point.  Because of how the internet has become the main resource for political information, shopping, and media consumption, it is vital that the people have unfettered access to the internet, and should not have to worry about paying ISPs more money to access the content that they want, and should not have to worry about what companies have paid money to ISPs for preferential treatment of their content.  Net Neutrality is an issue that while seemingly small and inconsequential right now, will have long-term consequences if the internet is unregulated going forward.