Why Net Neutrality Matters to Online Marketers

Net neutrality is back in the news as the US Federal Communications Commisson (FCC) grapples with the issue. Not surprisingly, the FCC commissioners are polarized along political/ideological lines, with the Democratic commissioners, including chairman Julius Genachowski, committed to writing regulations ensuring net neutrality, and the Republican commissioners committed to keeping government from regulating business in any way, shape or form.

But what is "net neutrality," and why should we care?

Basically, it comes down to quality and equality of service. Net neutrality proponents believe that data streams on the Internet should be treated on a first-come-first-served basis, and that telecom companies should not be allowed to prioritize traffic or discriminate using techniques such as deep packet inspection. What they want, in a nutshell, is for the Internet to continue as it is now.

On the other hand, some opponents to net neutrality regulations think this may be a solution looking for a problem, while other opponents actually believe that such discrimination is a good thing.

Internet marketers should be concerned about net neutrality, because it poses the danger of turning the Internet into a tiered service. In a world without net neutrality, small- to medium-sized businesses could lose the ability to compete cost-effectively against larger companies, because the larger companies could simply buy prioritization for their data streams.

The principle of net neutrality has made the Internet a great leveler. Without net neutrality, the Internet would become just another tiered medium like television, where large corporations and wealthy special interest groups control the messaging, and small- to medium-sized businesses can't afford to compete.