MetroPCS Sues FCC Over Net Neutrality, Too

We owe it to net neutrality, as it currently exists, that we can even have this conversation online. We have a right to speak out against the government, but we are not guaranteed that privilege when it comes to speaking out against corporations when using their own property. I am connecting to the internet using Verizon's landline DSL system. If Phonescoop ran an article that voiced a negative opinion of Verizon Wireless, which is half owned by Verizon communications, the lack of net neutrality could allow Verizon to block its customers from accessing phonescoop.com. I don't want my ISP to have control over what websites I have access to. And under the guess of "managing their network" and "prioritizing data", Verizon could throttle connections speed to the point that it rendered a site virtually inaccessible, causing page errors, for any site they didn't want me to access, and as a consumer I'd have little other option. There isn't another DSL provider in my area. If I went with Comcast, they could do the same thing. If I choose to cut my landline, and use Mobile broadband for my internet connection, Verizon wireless wants to have even more authority to decide what sites I have access to.

People need to get off of this kick about government control. As far as net neutrality goes, it is not a government takeover of the internet, as so many people want to say it is. This is the government preventing corporations from taking over the internet. Whether the FCC has the legal authority to enforce net neutrality may be a valid questions, but the concept that net neutrality is good for the consumer should not be in question. The only people Against net neutrality are those who stand to make more profit by controlling what sites you and I have access to. If the FCC isn't allowed to do it, I sure hope some other agency does.

Can you imagine if your phone company had the ability to block you from calling someone? Or made you pay extra to call certain numbers (I'm not talking about long distance charges). I mean if they looked at your usage and figured out which phone numbers were your friends, family, or business associates, and just said "From now on, you have to pay more to call these numbers". No-one would stand for that. Net neutrality is analogous. I'm paying to access the internet, it doesn't matter WHAT content I access, its all zeros and ones. They can charge me different prices for different speeds, they can charge me different prices for different size buckets, but once I pay may bill, it isn't up to them to "prioritize" the data I use. That opens to door to way too many possibilities for abuse and discrimination. The government is doing its job in this instance, protecting equal rights of the consumer.

Of course, anyone is free to disagree with me. But just think, wouldn't it be tragic if you weren't allowed to read this article in the first place, or post a dissenting opinion, if your ISP throttled you back so far that you couldn't even get on this site, and as a consumer you couldn't do anything about it? Especially if they cut off your access to the web pages of their competitors, so you couldn't even shop online for a new ISP. I, for one, am glad that Someone is standing up for my right to access the internet freely.