Net Wit: Why Neutrality Matters

Net Wit: Why Neutrality Matters

John Ueland for TIME

In an article in the September 6th issue of Time Magazine, Joel Stein makes the case against net neutrality by arguing that limited bandwidth needs to be allocated fairly. He says that is why your cell phone company “allows 911 calls through first, phone calls second, instant messages next and Web searches last.”

Allocating bandwidth is fine if you are an over-the-air broadcaster or cell phone company where there is limited (government licensed) spectrum. But let’s think about where most of us get our home internet service. Unless you are stealing it from your neighbor’s unencrypted router, chances are you are getting it from your cable company – which is also in the business of selling you pricey “silver” and “gold” packages of pay-tv channels.

What happens if you and a majority of the people in your franchise area begin watching True Blood, Dexter and Rescue Me by downloading them from Bit-Torrent? You and your neighbors cancel your high cost cable packages and opt for the basic package plus internet service. Watch your cable companies revenue decline while bandwidth usage goes up, making it harder for them to stream “on-demand” movies to those people who are still stupid enough to pay for them. How do you think that will make your cable company feel about net neutrality? Just Google “tiered service“.