Net Neutrality has Government spinning a web

The subject of net neutrality is a no-win no matter how we look at it. On the one hand if we let the government get involved there will inevitably be censorship and surely much more. On the other hand if we don't have requirements that ISPs treat all traffic neutrally we will have censorship.

If net neutrality legislation is passed then government gains untold powers to determine what can and can not be accessed on the Internet through regulations. Sure they'll start by saying every ISP has to treat all traffic in a neutral manner... but as we know when government gets their fingers into something the only outcome is more regulation and control. The next thing they'll start doing is what Australia has been trying to do, "protect the children" (put into quotes because we know that's not what they are actually doing). Websites that are deemed "dangerous" will be blocked through government regulations which will be much easier if they establish control over the Internet through net neutrality.

The biggest problem is most ISPs grew out of the breakup of good old Ma Bell which was nothing more than a government sanctioned monopoly over telecommunications. The split up created a few additional companies who have gobbled each other up to the point that there are really only a few key players in the telecommunications field again (thanks government regulation getting in the way of the free market). Comcast, the largest ISP in America, wields almost God-like powers over Internet access in this country. There is almost no way for traffic to flow across the Internet without it passing through Comcast's pipes. If Comcast gains the ability to filter who's traffic goes through they essentially control what information is made available and we end up having the Internet turn into the same situation as the mass media.

The free market also doesn't get to operate here since in many areas you only have one or two ISPs to chose from. And when a community does try to setup their own ISP they are usually shut down through lawsuits as Time Warner and Embarq did against a local community ISP called Greenlight (of course through their ability to collude with local politicians on creating a bill to destroy local ISPs).

The only real option available is getting rid of our dependence on the currently established Internet infrastructure. That's part of the reason Google is spending so much money buying up dark fiber, they want to avoid being in a position to be controlled by other companies such as Comcast. We need to avoid that same problem.

Sadly net neutrality screws us if it's pass or not. The bottom line is the Internet that we all know and love is in danger of being dismantled and turned into yet another censored and controlled medium.

There are solutions to this problem but this much I do know...more government is not one of them!