On Net Neutrality

The opposing argument: The internet must be regulated and in a free market environment. The only way to do this is to give the telecom companies control of the lines that they invested in. People usually only go to a few websites anyways, and most of the internet is filled with garbage and lies. Allow the telecom companies to regulate the internet and turn it into a viable market for all. With their guidance, piracy of all types would be greatly reduced, saving the newspapers, the radio, the music industry and the film industry all in one fell swoop.

Why it is wrong: Starting off let me just say, the net should always be neutral. If I have any say, and I dont, corporations need to keep their greedy hands off of the internet and while there at it they can spend that spare time installing my damn fiber-optic lines. In this blog I will argue for the valiant efforts of net neutrality and DESTROY the arguments created by the tele-com companies.

To argue FOR net neutrality I must first clarify the definition that I will be following whilst addressing the issue. According to Wikipedia, which by the way could not exist without net neutrality, " A neutral broadband network is one that is free of restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and on the modes of communication allowed, as well as one where communication is not unreasonably degraded by other communication streams." What this basically means, is that a neutral network is a complex and unlimited network where more connections increases its efficiency. Right now there is a lot of junk on the internet because anyone can put anything on the internet, but internet filters are becoming continuously better by tracking user traffic. In this way, popular content is filtered in a sense by the general population because through the number of page views, more popular websites will make their way to the top of the Google search list.

Now comes my major argument ..... Ahem

For the past few day I have been contemplating the benefits of net neutrality in comparison to a more controlled form of internet. At first I must admit I was finding more benefits for a more capitalized and controlled internet, but then I had a revelation. The global population is growing at a rate of approximative 77 million per year. If the network providers had the ability to regulate the internet it would evolve in the way illustrated in Diagram A. This would mean that the powerful would only become more powerful, gaining more and more viewers as the population grows. This is bad because as the population become bigger so does the talent pool, so it would become increasingly difficult for talented people to make it into the public sphere. Take for example music. It is inevitable that there will be more and more artists as the world population increases. However, it is much cheaper for the record labels to push a few big names in to the public sphere, and as population increases the number of "stars" can stay the same and just grow a larger fan base.

Diagram A: 1 way broadcast

Right now the internet is in an immature state, but as web 2.0 has shown, it is growing rapidly. When a neutral web becomes mature, however, it will be mind blowing and world changing. With net neutrality the internet is a many to many network as illustrated in Diagram B.