COMMENTARY
· by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer,
December 18, 2017
Net neutrality is gone -- at least for now. That
is, unless Congress intervenes and tries to put the kibosh on things.
Among the chief overriding concerns, your internet service provider might speed up and/or slow
specific websites. This might work against some big digital
video platforms that are controlled by Netflix, Google’s YouTube, and Amazon,
which are against abandoning the net-neutrality rules.
Net neutrality means Internet service providers
must treat all data on the Internet the same, not discriminate or charge
differently by user, content, website, platform or application.
It's no surprise that big digital video
companies, among many others, are concerned about this change, especially when
it impacts some traditional media/communication owners that are now in the
driver’s seat.
Playing favorites? Will Comcast’s internet
service business push Hulu more than Netflix? What if AT&T offers
preferential treatment for DirecTV Now, rather than Sling TV?
Supporters of getting rid of net neutrality
would say Comcast does not favor CNBC over Fox Business -- or NBC Sports’ NBCSN
over Fox Sports FS1. Many claim there are specific federal regulations or rules
against such over-reaching activity. (Any violations will be handled after the
fact by the FTC, not the FCC.)
But what about the internet? Is it
the same? Is the internet a utility that should be under federal regulation?
Internet providers -- AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Charter, T-Mobile -- don’t
think so.
It seems there is a big company/small start-up
entrepreneur dynamic at work here.
Bigger internet content companies -- Google’s
YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon -- have the wherewithal to pay for faster access
if Internet providers seek higher payments from them. Smaller companies? Not so
much. Then think further down the food chain: Will all these costs be passed on
to consumers?
The Trump Administration believes in a
regulation-free marketplace so competition can do its work and drive down
prices for consumers.
But history says those efforts rarely result in
a favorable consumer outcome.
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