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Really? Really, John McCain, really? I thought you at least had a shred of class. I mean, you did almost become president, after all. But then you went and wrote this Internet Freedom Act. What happened to wisdom and age going hand-in-hand?
Now, before you, fair Daily reader, go and Google “Internet Freedom Act,” let me explain. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission began the process of creating regulations to enforce net neutrality. Net neutrality ensures all Web sites and services are created equal: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are prohibited from limiting bandwidth, blocking access to specific Web sites or giving preferential treatment. But the Internet Freedom Act would prevent net neutrality, because apparently McCain wants telecom corporations to be free to control the content a customer views on the Internet.
If net neutrality is not enforced, ISPs like Comcast and AT&T could sell Internet traffic to the highest bidder, make a killing off Twitter’s wad o’ cash and take copious payoffs from other companies just so Web sites load quickly. This undermines the basic concept behind the Internet, which creates access to a world of information instead of just a few bits and pieces.
Without net neutrality, relatively small and unprofitable sites like Bros Like This Site, aggregators like Gizmodo, blogs, personal sites, Wikipedia and others would most likely be unable to pay ISPs to get bandwidth. This would result in less traffic, less advertising revenue, fewer contributors — and the sites would eventually disappear. I don’t know about you, but if an Internet with Texts From Last Night and Wikipedia is wrong, then I sure as hell don’t want to be right.
Ol’ Maverick’s new legislation purports to fight against government regulation and censorship. In an op-ed in The Washington Times, McCain said new FCC regulations and net neutrality would “stifle innovation” and “hinder job creation.” How this happens, he doesn’t say.
What he also doesn’t say is innovation actually comes from the Internet, not from the ISPs who want to manipulate access to it. Allowing ISPs to stifle and extort Internet start-ups and nonprofit Web sites will destroy businesses and jobs, and hurt innovation.
Net neutrality would allow the government to force service providers to be fair to users, yet McCain claims this means the government is somehow controlling what you look at. This, in effect, is analogous to calling the Bill of Rights an infringement by the government on the personal lives of citizens. Why not let large commercial companies who happen to donate to your election fund infringe upon civil liberties while you’re at it?
McCain, who admitted his inexperience with using the Internet and e-mail during last year’s campaign, obviously has no idea what he is advocating for or that there is a complete lack of reasoning behind it. For God’s sake, John, leave the Internet alone.
Weinberg senior Kenny Levin can be reached at k.levin@u.northwestern.edu.
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