Today the White House announced that Obama is calling on the FCC to assure all internet traffic is treated the same way.
“Net neutrality” is the common shorthand for this idea, and it sounds good on the surface…but that’s where the goodness ends and the red tape takes over. (H/T Breitbart)
Refusing adopt net neutrality, Obama contended, would allow internet service providers “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.” (H/T CNET)
Republicans, however, opposed Obama’s latest foray into regulation, with House Speaker John Boehner saying, “It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that the Obama administration continues to disregard the people’s will and push for more mandates on our economy. An open, vibrant Internet is essential to a growing economy, and net neutrality is a textbook example of the kind of Washington regulations that destroy innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Those in favor of net neutrality argue that using the FCC’s Title II powers would keep internet traffic moving smoothly and assure bandwidth for everyone. But opponents argue Title II would impose onerous burdens on ISPs and be inappropriate due to the Supreme Court’s previous rulings that the internet doesn’t fall under Title II’s umbrella of authority.
Ultimately, Obama’s move toward net neutrality is just another example of his compulsive need to regulate and cripple anything that could be useful to society.
Like all liberals, he can’t believe that consumers make or break firms, and instead he thinks firms are evil corporations that somehow (and that “somehow” is never explained) force consumers to buy their products. He apparently misses the fact that the only evil entity that can force transfers of wealth is his very own IRS.
If ISPs were to begin limiting bandwidth to say, eBay, but providing more to Amazon via some sort of agreement with Amazon, consumers would bring an enormous amount of pressure to bear almost instantly. And, of course, other ISPs would step in, assuring customers that they provide fair access to all parts of the internet. This is the way markets work. And, if things did get out of hand and a market failure emerged, we have anti-trust and anti-monopoly legislation to deal with that.
It’s truly amazing that the Barack Obama continually wants to hamstring the free-enterprise system that allowed him to transition from communist pot-smoker to communist President of the United States.
