Hi friends – I’ve been made aware that a really interesting issue is coming up in the Senate today. Under the moniker “net neutrality,” the Senate will be debating whether to impose sweeping new regulations on the internet. If the status quo is changed, internet service providers will no longer be allowed to shift or rearrange broadband capacity to accommodate, or better respond to, heavy volume and various traffic flows. Internet capacity for all uses and users would have to be consistent and “neutral.”
What makes this issue interesting is that while most of the groups supporting the new regulations are understandably on the Left, some Christian groups are arguing for the new regulations too. They maintain that if internet service providers can continue to manage traffic flow (as they do now) they could, say, “discriminate” against large group of homeschoolers downloading material by shifting internet capacity away from them.
The answer is that that’s not happening now, and a vibrant internet marketplace is exactly what will keep that from happening in the future. These well-meaning folks should think long and hard about inviting the government in to solve a problem that doesn’t seem to exist. Because once the government is there, it won’t ever leave.
Maybe that’s why my mom used to say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
For a larger picture of this issue, here’s a good piece from The Heritage Foundation:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Regulation/bg1941.cfm
Thanks for stopping by.
Betsy
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