A letter to the editor - The Capitol Times (WI) July 28, 2007
Dear Editor: John Nichols in his July 19 column connects the Net neutrality debate to the openness of the Web when it is really about the openness of wallets. Or, more accurately, whose wallets will be forced open to pay for tomorrow’s advanced networks.
In his call for Net neutrality, Nichols ignores the crucial issue of how Net neutrality changes how to pay the huge expense of building the next generation of the Internet. No surprise since this is the reason so many oppose Net neutrality — because it shifts what should be the business costs of giant companies like Google, Amazon and eBay to Net users.
The current system of funding tomorrow’s Internet is making broadband prices more affordable. This drop in price is also helping close the digital divide — “bringing more and more communities and ideas online.”
Given that laws already guarantee access to information — another point Nichols neglects — why would we change things just to make the Net a little cheaper for companies and more expensive for America’s consumers?
Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolf Washington, D.C.
