All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation have strongly opposed a plan that would make a big change in the way businesses and individuals use the Internet.
A decision by the Federal Communications Commission to look at the possibility of allowing Internet service providers to charge websites more money for faster service has set off a heated debate across the country. The proposal has also raised a lot of questions about the future of the Internet.
"Companies with the money will have the access and small businesses will be treated as second or third class citizens." - Sen. Bernie Sanders in opposing the FCC plan
The change threatens a concept known as “Net Neutrality.”
Congressman Peter Welch thinks the FCC plan is a terrible idea.
“If you basically have a 'fast lane' that folks with deep pockets to have access to and a 'slow lane' for everybody else, then the opportunity for innovation is really going to be foreclosed,” said Welch. “If you have the fast lane and the slow lane, the guys driving the big cars and the fast cars are the ones that are going to be hogging the highway.”
Welch is also concerned that businesses that pay for quicker access to the Internet will have to raise prices for their products to offset the cost of using the faster service.
“Essentially, if you are setting up a situation where the biggest companies with the deepest pockets are able to control access to the Internet, will higher prices to everyday Vermonters and businesses follow?” asked Welch. “And that’s a major concern I have.”
In a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Bernie Sanders strongly opposed the FCC plan.
“If the FCC allows huge corporations to negotiate quote unquote fast lane deals, then the Internet will eventually be sold to the highest bidder,” said Sanders. “Companies with the money will have the access and small businesses will be treated as second or third class citizens.”
And Sanders thinks the FCC plan could have a chilling effect on the dissemination of alternative political views.
“Net neutrality also means that a blogger, somebody who just blogs out his or her point of view in a small town in America, should have the same access to his or her readers as the New York Times or the Washington Post.” he said.
In a prepared statement, Sen. Patrick Leahy also opposed the FCC plan. Leahy said: “If the FCC ends net neutrality, Americans will lose what is best about the Internet – the opportunity it provides for honest competition and equal access in a digital age.”
The FCC is holding a 30-day public comment period on their proposal and Leahy is urging all Vermonters to write the commission to oppose any change that would “affect equal access to the Internet.”
