Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Should The Government Regulate The INTERNET ?

Bar none, Government regulation of the internet is the single most important issue of our time. The regulation of the internet will impact everyone and very profoundly. 

ISPs and Edge Providers Need to Keep It Open

Network Neutrality is the cornerstone of the government's involvement and yet few individuals fully understand what it means. Lets simplify it.

Advocates for net neutrality, principally led by social media providers (Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc.) and their advocacy groups are in favor of  rules needed to prevent internet service providers (ISPs) (telecoms and cable companies that provide internet service) from restricting or controlling web access - while those favoring deregulation argue that rules are not required to control the ISPs.

What the government is attempting to do is decide on how to approach a transformative technology that reaches into every corner of our lives and to do so based on rules that were originally written in the days of the telegraph!

This Thursday (12/14/17) the FCC will be voting to deregulate the ISPs. This action will prompt massive lawsuits and a huge ad campaign by the so-called "Edge Providers" - websites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, or  Netflix, which need the ISPs to reach their customers.

What I believe is that the internet has become so central to everyone's life that it should not be the victim of a battle between ISPs and the Edge Providers forcing the government to intervene (which will only bring confusion, disarray, and dreaded over-reach in regulation).

It would be very difficult for the government to apply rules against the ISPs while letting Google and Facebook continue to operate with relatively little oversight or restriction. For that reason, many believe the FCC ruling on Thursday will deregulate the ISPs, placing them on the same regulatory basis as the Edge Providers. They may have started in garages or dormitories but the market capitalization of the Edge Providers dwarfs that of the ISPs. If you look at who makes the most money from the internet ecosystem, it is obviously the Edge Providers.

On the flip side, no consumer pays a monthly subscription to Facebook. Facebook also only has a window on a user's online activity, while an ISP has a window into all of a subscriber's apps and services.

My thought, let the ISPs experiment with new business models and development products that benefit them and their internet users, in the meantime, the Edge Providers are and will continue to do the same - all under the watchful eye of the FCC, FTC, and Dept. of Justice.

Just saying,

Jim Lavorato





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