Net Neutrality: Government Destruction Of The Internet

In a landmark decision on net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared the Internet a public utility under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act as reported by CBS News. The 3-2 split decision forces Internet service providers to not actively discriminate in terms of what content is transmitted at what speed.

Obama issued a statement supporting the net neutrality decision.

“…will protect innovation and create a level playing field for the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Just like Obamacare has? Just like the stimulus package? No, neither question should be taken as sarcasm. The idea of government induced innovation and economic equality are the two biggest red herrings of liberalism in general.

This is also a huge disconnect is concerning the potential impact of net neutrality on the Internet.

Liberal supporters will try to cite countries when the Internet has been declared a public utility, such as The Netherlands, as the example of what is possible in the United States. The New York Times reported that two years after The Netherlands implemented their net neutrality rules the average costs had remained relatively stable.

However, you need to pay closer attention to the examples they provided in their article. If you use the Internet at a minimal level in the first place, you probably would not see much difference. There is also the differences in population between The Netherlands and the United States by almost 300 million people. So, infrastructure investments are also on a different scale.

But, with the implementation of these rules, the government has now exerted its “authority” over the Internet. Is there one example of a public utility that is run better after the government started regulating it? Of course not, that is as Ronald Regan so eloquently stated, the nine most dangerous words the American consumer can ever hear.

“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

The costs of doing business with the U.S. government has increased, and will continue to increase with each passing year. There is no reason to expect anything else. With the exponential expansion of domestic surveillance by Obama, it is not an unreasonable expectation that the government will use its newly declared regulatory authority over the Internet to control the flow of information in a format similar to countries like China, Iran, and others. Early in his presidency, Obama made the following declaration during a commencement speech.

“…information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment.”

So, in the last two years of a presidency where he has routinely exceeded his authority by sidestepping Congress, Obama will in the name of “empowerment” find ways to control the information that is available to Americans. It will be “too much” and “incorrect.”

That is the reason Obama and his liberal supporters voicing their support for the FCC’s net neutrality decision.

[Photo by: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]