Net Neutrality, FCC, and Jon Oliver

This may seem off-topic for a web design blog yet it is not… Anyone who works on the internet or enjoys using the internet will be effected by the decisions the FCC, Federal Communications Commission, is making about net neutrality. The following excerpt and video give a good overview of the issues involved and why even YOU need to have your voice heard… and soon.

Reference: http://fcc.gov/comments

Comedian’s Net Neutrality Comments Crash FCC Comment Page

The Net Neutrality debate of the Spring has overflown into the Summer. Tom Wheeler, the current chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has come under fire from multiple sources ever since he proposed establishing Internet “fast lanes” to address the conflict between Internet service providers and companies that transmit high volumes of data to consumers. Under the proposed rules, entertainment providers would pay additional fees to Internet service providers to achieve faster data transmission to customers. A letter signed by dozens of tech companies, a crowdsourcing campaign from a well-known entrepreneur, and Senatorial complaints  are just a few of the objections that have recently targeted Mr. Wheeler’s proposal.

On June 1^st, John Oliver, former reporter for the Colbert Report, offered his explanation of the Net Neutrality debate on his weekly comedic news show, Last Week Tonight.

Read More: http://www.ctovision.com/2014/06/comedians-comments-crash-fcc-comment-page/

My letter to the FCC:

As someone who works on the internet as a web designer, my access, and the speed of that access, is of great importance to me. And as someone who was on the internet in the early 1990’s I loved the internet being a free and open communications system that bridged the gap between people all over the world.

A neutral net is about equality. Equality is a basis right and one of our constitutional freedoms… that all people should be treated equally. I will conceed that this is more of an ideal to strive for then an absolute in our lives. Yet it is something that should not be actively thorted by govenmental law.

Internet speed must not be a commodity that segregates the haves and have nots. Internet speed must not be sold to the highest bidder and thus remove competition and innovation by “the little guy” from the marketplace.

FCC, please do your job and continue to protect net neutrality.

ECFS Filing Receipt – Confirmation number: 201468241621

Now it’s YOUR turn… http://fcc.gov/comments