Net Neutrality Paradigm Shift

[a completely inoffensive name]

We need net neutrality to be enforced immediately. In the past 5 years companies have finally adapted to the times and are now recognizing the power of the internet in furthering their goals, example: television channels finally putting their shows online in 2008 through Hulu.

The "free market" that the internet has been so called, has not been a free market but an ignored market and now that the companies have an interest in it, like in all markets there will be a need for government to put limits and restrictions on the companies that are now attempting to manipulate the market.

In many regions there are lots of people who have access to only one internet service provider, which makes it a monopoly, allowing the company to easily control the speed and degree of access to the internet its consumers have.

The best example of such manipulation of the market occurring is with the MPAA and RIAA attempting to force ISP's to cut and/or investigate the bandwidth being used by someone they feel is pirating music. These attempts by the music and movie industries to act as your judge, jury and executioner is completely unacceptable and serve as only a warning of coming times if we do not get government to simply set guidelines and consumer protection laws.

That is what net neutrality comes down to, consumer protection, not punishing companies, or stiffing innovation but making sure that a company does not have the ability to demand your ISP to hand over your internet information without your or the courts consent.