Net Neutrality

Those commercials are part of a campaign by the "National Cable & Telecommunications Association," a Washington D.C. lobbying group, to put the public to sleep while their lobbyists propose legal changes to internet access. When Congress repeatedly hears from lobbyists and that lobbying message is not balanced by a message from the voters back home, those lobbyists often get the regulations they want.

What do lobbyists working for the "National Cable & Telecommunications Association" want? They want cable and telephone companies to make more money at the expense of internet users, "Mom and Pop" websites, and what some call "not-for-profit" websites.

The change would look like this. Websites that pay internet providers large amounts of money will be put at the head of the receiving line. Customers trying to reach a "Mom and Pop" website will have to wait in line until all the customers going to big sites, paying internet providers big money, have been connected.

Today the internet treats you equally. You want to go to a certain website, you click, and your computer is connected to that website as soon as a connection can be established. The net is neutral. Your click is equal to all other clicks.

Under the "National Cable & Telecommunications Association's" plan, your click to a website that did not pay the internet provider big bucks may be slowed down until everybody going to a site that has paid more is connected.

The decision of how fast you will be connected to each website will be determined by how much that website pays the internet provider. Those sites that pay more will get "head of the receiving line privileges." They receive your click first. Sites that pay less or nothing will receive your click later.

The "National Cable & Telecommunications Association's" ads are very slick, very catchy, and very effective. They are convincing viewers that being "neutral" about how long computer users are made to stand in line for access to their destination website is a bad thing. They are in effect saying, "Let us ration the users' time. We will decide how long the connection process will take to each individual website. We will make that decision in the same way people get a good table at a crowded restaurant. Slip the head waiter $100 and get a table ahead of people like you who are already standing in line."

Lee A. Presser