[As the potted petunias said: “Oh no, not again.” I am giving myself a birthday gift: a free and open internet. You should join me!]
Commissioners:
I urge you to keep the current Title II classification for broadband internet.
Over past 20+ years I have
had the great fortune to make my living building both applications and
the “plumbing” on the Internet and what has become the World Wide Web. I
have seen first hand how innovation works in this industry. The
disruption that takes the entire network by storm one day becomes the de
facto standard the next.
I am deeply
concerned about the recent proposed rule changes regarding the
neutrality of network providers. Allowing last-mile providers to charge
for “premium” access to their subscribers will cause two separate,
deleterious effects: It will harm innovation, and it will widen the
digital divide in this country.
First, no one
can predict where the storms of disruption will form. ISPs are trying to
maintain a delicate balance providing the best service to their
customers. Disruptions, by definition, wreck that status quo. Allowing
the ISPs to pick winners (at best, and giving priority to their own
offerings at worst) gives a huge advantage to entrenched incumbents. It
would be disastrous to the innovation that has been driving one of the
shining stars in our economy of late, and one that has been sorely
needed.
This is doubly disastrous for the
majority of Americans for whom their ISP is a virtual monopoly. They
cannot vote with their wallets and move to a provider more willing to allow
the disruptive traffic the innovative service requires. They are stuck
with whatever their ISP deigns to offer.
Second,
allowing ISPs to double-dip and charge both subscribers and
content/service providers for the privilege of connecting will
exacerbate the digital divide in this country, and will mean that only
the relatively wealthy consumers will be able to afford a decent
Internet experience. It will also further widen the divide between the
US and the rest of the developed world, where we already pay more for
much slower connectivity.
Finally, and perhaps most distressingly, it will have a chilling effect on the freedom of expression that is central to a free and open society.
You have the power to
change all of this. For these reasons and more, I urge you to keep broadband internet classified as a Title II telecommunications service, and keep
access equitable for everyone.
Thank you for your time.
Erik Ogan
San Francisco, CA
/cc:
Diane Feinstein
Kamala Harris
Nancy Pelosi
