I’m on the side of NO GOV REGULATION of any more of our freedoms; but, you decide. Here are the arguements:
OpposingViews.com AnswerBag.com
Someone should do a poll on GovLoop about this. I would love to see the REAL answers, without worrying about having your name attached to it.
Emphatically yes! Internet access is a utility, and we have plenty of examples of abuses in the absence of utility regulation. However, poorly crafted regulations can be just as dangerous …
Emphatically NO! I’ve read the arguments and the proposed bills- and they mean CONTROL.
This is the FreePress definition:
What is Net Neutrality?
Net Neutrality is the guiding principle that preserves the free and open Internet.
Net Neutrality means that Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. It guarantees a level playing field for all Web sites and Internet technologies.
Net Neutrality is the reason the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation and free speech online. It protects the consumer’s right to use any equipment, content, application or service without interference from the network provider. With Net Neutrality, the network’s only job is to move data — not to choose which data to privilege with higher quality service.
So the trade off is the government for the cable company? I don’t think that is the answer. How about total deregulation? I should be able to sell broadband service! Just think what the free market would do to the pricing. I currently pay about $20 a month through Comcast…if regular small businesses were able to offer broadband for whatever prices they wanted, they would come way down based on competition. Look at what has happened with cellular service. I used to pay about $150/mo for unlimited minutes- I now pay $30. How is this a bad thing?
As the Wall Street Journal wrote in 2008, “Net neutrality is a slippery slope toward interventions of all kinds — not merely over access but ultimately over content. Naturally, the most powerful lobbies will have the largest sway.”
Even Bill Clinton’s FCC, under Chairman Bill Kennard, had refused to go this far. ‘Classifying Internet access as telecommunication services could have significant consequences for the global development of the Internet,’ said Mr. Kennard in a 1998 speech. ‘We recognized the unique qualities of the Internet, and do not presume that legacy regulatory frameworks are appropriately applied to it.’
I just can’t sign on to this one. I absolutely love the Internet. GovLoop probably would have never been started by a government employee with a passion to collaborate with other govies- there would have probably been a regulation preventing him from doing it. I work for the government, but I do want some me time. The Internet is the last shred of total freedom we have left.