| (my weak attempt follows) The FCC's mission is (among other things) to "make available [..] communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable charges". They are also supposed to promote competition, neutrality, affordability, innovation, etc. The only way to do that is with regulation. The only thing the FCC does is regulate. It regulates to stop monopolies and unfair business practices, which harm consumers and businesses. In theory, we shouldn't need so much regulation of the internet. But the internet is an interwoven, complicated beast, and one single company can have a huge impact on lots of businesses and consumers - even ones that have nothing to do with them directly. Net Neutrality is just a term to refer to a "common carrier" - a person or thing that carries goods or services for other people, and is responsible for them along the way. Think of UPS, carrying your Christmas packages from you to your loved ones. Imagine if UPS was allowed to unpack your Christmas present and replace it with a cheap, shoddy replacement - and then demand more money to deliver the real thing!!! On top of this, UPS is the only carrier that will deliver from your area. This has already happened multiple times on the internet, and the FCC has been the only thing that has stopped it. If internet companies aren't required to treat everyone fairly, they can make life miserable for businesses, and for you. You could end up with different access than other people, depending on who you pay, or how much you pay, or where you live. You could be forced to make choices you don't want to make, simply because someone has unfair power over your internet. Companies have no incentive to protect your right to an affordable, competitive, neutral, innovative, free internet. And that's why we need the government to meddle in it. Because in this case, nobody else is going to. But right now, the FCC Chairman doesn't care about ensuring your access to a fair, neutral internet - he cares more about the interests of a few rich companies, who stand to make a lot of money by walling off parts of the internet from you, and from competing businesses, so they can then turn around and charge you double for what you were already paying for. Does this sound fair to you? No? Then you're a supporter of Net Neutrality. Now, how the government enforces Net Neutrality will be debated, and there isn't one set way to do it. But they will have to use regulation to enforce it, one way or another. And what they're doing now is the opposite of that. So if you want your internet to be fair, tell your representatives that. Tell them you support Net Neutrality, and that you demand equal and fair access to the internet for everyone. Let them figure out the details. But know that what you're supporting is for you, as much as everyone else. |