Bringing to an end Network Neutrality is very bad news. This is what Donald Trump has just initiated in the USA through the US regulator, the Federal Commission of Communications (FCC). On 14 December, the three Republican representatives voted against the two Democrat representatives in favour of allowing the Internet Service Providers to discriminate between the content providers, favouring one instead of the other.
This decision has created a big debate as it changes the entire concept of how the Internet has always worked since its early days in the 1990s, and it will definitely give rise to innumerable court cases. As of this week, 21 early founders and promoters of the Internet have publicly denounced this measure.
Net Neutrality is a measure to prevent Internet Service Providers favouring one type of content from a determined source to the detriment of another content from a different source. Net Neutrality also guarantees that no Internet Service Provider can block any content based on commercial, political, religious or moral reasons without a court order.
Net Neutrality is good for the end users and small companies, as well as for the smaller countries which can compete with bigger ones on an equal footing. Net Neutrality is also good for competition and innovation. Small businesses with net neutrality do not have added start-up costs to carry out business on the net. Start-ups, which could be seen as a threat to existing companies, cannot be blocked or forced to abort their business because of the high costs of getting on to the net. Net Neutrality is also beneficial to freedom of expression, democracy, yet we see various governments around the globe trying to block or regulate content. With the abolition of Net Neutrality, money takes over the Internet in an indiscriminate, free-for-all, manner.
President Obama legislated in favour of Net Neutrality about two years ago. As of 2016, the EU has legislation in all its member states that prevents Internet Service Providers from limiting discriminate access of content to the Internet. This Net Neutrality has allowed the birth of various platforms and services which can be accessed by end customers independently of the Internet Service Provider used.
Removing Net Neutrality in the USA is a big blow to small companies and start ups in the USA, which will now no longer have the financial resources to compete on an equal footing with large companies to gain access to the Internet, provide services via the Internet effectively and succeed in getting the attention of small users of innovative or niche products and services. The abolition of Net Neutrality is a big blow to innovative start-up digital marketing companies in the USA.
The removing of Net Neutrality only favours the large companies with deep pockets and goes against the interests of the consumer and small jurisdictions closely linked to the USA, who will have to follow suit. This measure has serious consequences in respect of eroding free access to the Internet, competition and innovation not only in the USA but, in the long term, in the rest of the world. The Internet has permitted small businesses - and small countries - to grow, and the popular saying 'small is beautiful' will gradually no longer be true if Net Neutrality is abolished.