A glimpse into the future? Click and see.
I was ranting and raving all day on Twitter in regard to the proposed Google/Verizon net neutrality deal announced today. The Internet as expected is up in arms as they should be. Google and Verizon are effectively attempting to limit the Internet. They would feed the Internet to big business and let them decide what sites you can see, use, and sign up with. So what to do?
People are quick to beg and plead with the government to step in and stop this but the government is the reason this is an issue. Verizon and Google would have no way to monopolize the Internet so long as the government doesn’t grant them the exclusive right to do so! Think about electric companies where you live. How many can you choose from? In most cases only one! Why is that? Nine times out of ten it is because those companies have contracts with the government to monopolize a certain area. Same goes for cable tv, gas, and oil companies. Government is in fact granting these monopoly contracts that completely remove the free market competition and pander to big business. It is *illegal* for another company to provide energy or cable television in those areas. This is precisely what would happen in the event the Internet is more or less “given” to Verizon and Google. We now know that the government is not the answer to the net neutrality problem.
What we need is a market response. Should these policies be enacted one would hope that the market response would be negative. This would bring about a large spike in DSL service. Independent companies that provide Internet service that don’t piggy back from Verizon or Google equipment would see a huge spike in subscribers. As the old saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention” and in this event much like the early 90′s cable and satellite battles, and the current telecom battles which saw a rise in VOIP services (Vonage, Skype, Fring). One would be safe in assuming that new technology would naturally arise to combat these corporatist evils. Keeping all of this in mind it leads us to one natural conclusion and battle plan.
Do nothing. Let Google and Verizon attempt to corner the Internet, their fate will be worse than anything they could propose. Their fate will see market shares disappear. They are doing more harm than good. I for one (and I know there are many more like me) would refuse to use such a service. I would no longer remain a patron of Google, simple as that. I don’t use Verizon so I am already all set with that. As they lose users they lose profits. These companies will suffer the same fate that any corporation which doesn’t respect the free market suffers. They will simply be replaced by a new Google and a new Verizon.
Allow them to alienate themselves to their entire user base and just hope a pray that big nanny government doesn’t grant them these exclusive monopolies! That is the true evil and the true danger. Trust the market.
To jump-start your Anti-Google movement start using http://www.startpage.com and have your privacy protected!
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