At least, that's the way people make it sound every time they bring up ISP's fighting against net neutrality. They're going to carve up the internet and only let subscribers access certain sites, or use certain services...unless you pony up the big bucks and pay for "ultimate broadband" at outrageous rates. Is this really happening though, could it really come down to this?
I suppose realistically it could and might. The thing people need to keep in mind though is that the true power is in OUR hands. That's right, we've ultimately got the power to dictate how open the internet is or isn't. The only catch is though that we can only exercise that power by being willing to, "let go". That's right, let go. If ISP's put a stranglehold on a free and affordable internet, we've just got to be willing to disconnect, pull the plug, cancel our service.
Let's look at a possible scenario. All the broadband internet providers start blocking content from providers that have ties to another internet provider. Like for instance Comcast buys NBC and they block NBC content from being streamed over any other internet providers lines. So, in retaliation, every other internet provider starts blocking the content of their partners from being streamed over Comcast and all the other ISP's...cause let's face it, once something like this goes down, it's a cascade effect, sort of like a nuclear meltdown. A horrible scenario for internet users...suddenly your world-wide spanning internet has been cut down to something more akin to being on AOL....ewwwww!
The thing is, there's an easy way out of this predicament. The power truly is in our hands, the only hard part is, we'll have to be willing to let go of our addiction to do it. Just cancel your service and stop paying them for something that you don't want, and don't go crawling to some other ISP. Just learn to get along without the internet. All it would take would be about 30-40% of internet subscribers from any ISP cutting their service and it would bring the ISP's to their knees. Just imagine you're the CEO of Comcast and suddenly over a month or two your customer base shrinks by 30-40%! No business, let alone the bloated ISP's of this nation could withstand a drop like that in their bottom line. They'd cave in weeks and open everything back up again, after all, what they really want is your money, and if you deny them that, they'll do whatever it takes to get it back.
I'm not just talking here, because I've started the fight myself. I've been a customer of Verizon Fios, now Frontier Fios. Since Verizon sold Fios to Frontier, my bill has been steadily getting bigger and bigger. Now, Frontier has had the temerity to send out their latest ultimatum that the "television" portion of my bill would next month be increased by $30, to cover "increasing costs". I've been a subscriber to the ubiquitous "triple package", television, internet and phone. My bill would have reached a whopping $190 a month! I decided that I'm finally fed up with being sucked dry by these people. I called up Frontier and told them that I wouldn't pay them any more just to watch twenty or so channels out of the 150/180/225 channels I supposedly received...every time you turn around they're claiming a different number of total channels they provide...but let's face it, we all only watch a very small portion of those channels...C-SPAN anyone? Now all I'm getting from FIOS is internet and phone. I'll watch FREE over-the-air television from now on. And you know what? If they start bloating my bill for internet or phone, or try cutting my services down for either and think they're going to charge me the same or more...I'll cut those out of my life too.
I love the internet, but if I can't have it my way, I'll learn to do without it. You see, I have the power to just keep my money if I'm not getting what I want for it. Comcast, Frontier, Time Warner etc... don't have an inalienable right to my money, or yours for that matter. If we want to have our internet, or our TV or phone our way, all we have to do is let it go, and if enough of us do this, it will send a message more powerful than any legislation ever could.
