When I listen to Rep. Lee Terry speak about the evils of net neutrality it is patently clear that his opinion is not one based in the reality that most of us live in. Rather, it is based in the reality of pro-corporate, pro-big government which is plaguing our political system.
What Mr. Terry fails to understand is that while it may seem that net neutrality itself is “big government,” it is the opposite. To claim the former is no different than to claim that the Bill of Rights is big government. It is simply absurd to imply that the existence of a law implies big government and the absence of one implies freedom. In the case of Ne tNeutrality, as well as the Bill of Rights, the intention is not to create a framework that prevents us from doing something but rather one that provides us with certain rights.
If we do not have Net Neutrality then the New York Times would be able to pay Cox Cable and make the Omaha World-Herald so slow it would be essentially inaccessible. In their own self-interest NBC/Comcast could render FoxNews.com so slow it would be equally inaccessible, while providing lightning quick access to MSNBC.com. The latter scenario is fair more likely than unlikely.
The American Taxpayer has, and continues to provide the largest telecommunication companies endless amounts of tax payer money which result in little or no improvement, and in some cases are funneled directly into propaganda to convince us that we don’t really want to maintain our rights.
So the question is: Does Lee Terry really want to continue promoting a system which benefits a few rich people, a form of corporate socialism, or does he want to provide rights to the people he represents and work to create a truly free, open and competitive market (and at the same time save his tax payers money) in what is arguably one of the most important aspects of modern life?