A couple days back I posted “Net Neutrality and Small Business on the Web” at flyte’s blog, alerting small business owners and entrepreneurs about some legislation that might affect their online business.
I stood up for net neutrality, the idea that all information should be treated equally on the net, and that ISP’s like Verizon and AT&T shouldn’t be able to give preferential treatment to their partners and other large corporations willing to pay a premium for such a benefit. In my mind, changing the current method (which Verizon and AT&T are lobbying hard for) hurts small business.
Within hours there were five comments at my blog (which is a lot for me): four against and one for. (And I wrote that one!)
Commentors questioned why the government should be interfering with yet another aspect of our lives (point well taken) and felt the market should sort it out. Some felt we should leave well enough alone. However, it seems to me that big ISP’s are lobbying for a change to the current system.
Just a few moments ago I got an email from Andy Wibbels — a smart guy if ever there was one — asking for support of net neutrality. Andy asks us to “imagine if the eletric company made your refrigerator run slower if it wasn’t a Whirlpool brand.”
Alternatively, imagine if the passing lane on a highway could only be used by giant corporation’s trucks, and all other traffic needed to take side streets.
What if your competition was a Verizon partner and their blog came up faster in a browser at the expense of your own? GM’s FastLane Blog might benefit from this change, but probably not your blog.
Well, now you’ve heard those in favor of net neutrality. What do the rest of you think?
The idea of a tiered internet is terrifying. I just left a corporate job to help my wife run an interactive marketing firm. Blog consulting is a big part of our plans for growth in the future, but small business consulting online is a major part of our business.
If a tiered internet went through, our ability to make a living would be restricted only to our large corporate customers.
I don’t understand Republican intransigence on this issue – a major constituency for Republicans are small businesses – we write our checks directly to the government every quarter, and the number of regulations out there push us towards the party that at least professes smaller government.
A tiered internet would cripple small business at the expense of bloated telcoms who until just recently were still charging us tax on the Spanish War from over a hundred years ago!
A tiered internet would tell me that Republicans don’t truly care for freedom. What better way to get me to not vote in November? I’ll be looking for a new career if this goes through.
Comment by Jim Durbin — April 27, 2006 @ 8:27 am
I really find this very odd. ISPs should not do that. Smally business may be small but actually they are not. Just think if all the small business companies of USA are combined how much they make up. It would be become a significant figure. I think these big companies are making a huge mistake if they adopt such a strategy where they would prefer only big companies.
Comment by S.M.Mehdi Hassan — April 30, 2006 @ 5:50 am
I feel this is one of the biggest problems facing the small business online and off today. I cant understand why people have to be so greedy if the Government wants to make money on the internet then They should set up site just like the rest of us. I have a problem with someone who puts up a toll booth in a place that never needed one or ask for it.I just added video on my site of Obama talking about this issue.I hope the others follow.
Comment by John — October 5, 2007 @ 11:43 am