Why net neutrality? Freedom of choice is the short answer. And by that I mean our choice. Not the choice forced on us by the company that provides our internet service. I wrote about this freedom at some length last month so I won’t repeat those arguments here.

Business Insider repeats some of those downsides to the new internet rules but adds a new one, Tolls.

Your Internet Sevice Provider (ISP) is in business to make money. It is probably more likely to have its own or its investors interests in mind than your freedom of choice or economic well-being. My argumenta were mostly about limiting your choice.

But, for example, say you like news. Your ISP could block news sites from its basic package and if you want news you could have to pay a monthly fee for the news package. Worse it could include just certain sites that the ISP approves of.

Tolls plus giving the ISP freedom of choice rather that you having freesdom of choice seems like a bad idea to me.

Wired has recently published HOW THE FCC’S NET NEUTRALITY PLAN BREAKS WITH 50 YEARS OF HISTORY which show how radical this plan is. The article starts like this –

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION chair Ajit Pai has proposed repealing longstanding net neutrality rules. Only he has a different phrase for them: “The Obama administration’s heavy-handed regulations.” Wait a second: Did Obama really invent net neutrality? Even in a country with famously short attention spans, at least some people might have noticed that net neutrality has been around longer than that. So where did net neutrality come from? How did it get started?

The current FCC likes to sell their plan (Restoring Internet Freedom) as a correction to over regulation in the recent past, although this is not the case at all. Not even close. Whose freedom are they restoring? Read this history in Wired if you rather know the real facts than the Trump administration spin.

Your opinion on net neutrality is important but it may not matter to the FCC. It does sound as if at least some commisioners have already decided. All the same, it is worth leaving a comment on the FCC website. Just click on express. The docket is 17-108 but that should be pre-filled if you use this link.