Net Neutrality

I was watching the news the other day and the subject of net neutrality came up again, and also read an article about how a U.S. Senator is pushing the FCC on the regulations too.  But it got me wondering, since I am a big internet user myself, what exactly is “net neutrality”?

In my opinion net neutrality is the speed which content from a website is sent to the end users computer.  Up until this point I think most of us have enjoyed one speed for everyone regardless of the type of website you are looking at.  You get the same speed delivery whether you are looking at CNN, Under Armour, Tumblr, or PornHub.  The only thing that would be slowing you down is virus’ on your computer, your wifi signal, or congestion on the internet itself.

So the question is whether to allow big internet companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, and the like, to charge big names like NetFlix, Hulu, and YouTube for example, to deliver their content faster using priority channels.  Personally I don’t see anything wrong with that.  With one exception: The cable companies CANNOT slow down the internet delivery for everyone else.

Here is my big example.  I am a huge NetFlix and Hulu user.  If I could get the speed up just a tad for smoother delivery and a clearer picture, I would be happy to tack a couple extra dollars to my monthly subscription.  It is very annoying to try to watch an HD video when you can tell the picture is anything but HD.  But at the same time, if I start my own website, say I wanted to to print T-Shirts and mail them out to people, there is no way on the planet that I have the money to give to the internet companies to be sure that my visitor’s pages don’t take hours to load.  I want the same speed as everyone else is getting in order to sell my stuff and make a little money.  This is an internet world, and everyone needs equal access.

Here is where I disagree with the whole fee for delivery thing though.  There are many internet providers out there.  You are asking to have NetFlix and Hulu to pay a fee to EVERY provider to increase the speed.  That is ridiculous.  Even with how big they are, they probably can’t afford that.  And what about ABC, NBC, MSNBC, that host videos?  Charging the websites fees is not the answer.  Continuing to build a better faster, less congested network is the answer, and that is up to the cable companies.  That is their job.  And where I think some of the disconnect is.

The cable companies want more money to pay for bandwidth because NetFlix and Hulu have a ton of subscribers who watch a ton of movies in HD, and they want a good experience.  I’m one of those people.  The way I look at it, I pay NetFlix to provide me with the movies I want to watch.  I pay the cable company to deliver that content in a way that provides me the best experience for the money I am giving to NetFlix.  It’s not NetFlix’s fault that the cable company can’t deliver.  Either one of two things needs to happen: 1) The cable companies improve their networks to where the consumers want their content delivery to be, or 2) the websites have to tone it down.  And which do you think the consumers are going to go for?

So there is my little rant for neutrality.  Same speed for everyone! If you want to charge the big companies to go faster, go for it.  Just don’t slow everyone else down.  But don’t get me wrong websites, I’m on your side.  Making you pay fees to everyone is crazy.

Love to ya all as always!

~Ryan

[Originally Posted 7/14/14]