Net Neutrality and IM: Are you neutral about it?
I clearly remember that at the time Brexit was taking place I thought that it would an interesting thing to ask how could this influence IM? Then, on the second thought, I realized that this was perhaps a too political thing to be found on WF. Luckily for all of us, there was a smart warrior to ask a smart question the right way. Something like how Brexit can influence marketers in the UK. You can find this thread on WF just type "Brexit" in the search field.
Then we had the US Presidential Election. It seems that Trump has nothing to do with IM, so nobody bothered to ask a question about it. For what is worth, I stumble upon some articles online about the complex relationship between Trump and the Silicon Valley guys. Again, it was a little bit too much for my taste. So, I thought, finally the good old IM is going to be left aside regarding the latest political tsunami. Guess, this was a little bit naive expectations as I was soon to find out in this article:
Trump and net neutrality: How Republicans can make the rules go away | Ars Technica
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know what the Net Neutrality is all about, do you? The Internet is supposed to be free, open, and therefore neutral. Otherwise, it's not the Internet as we know and use it. Right? The same things apply to IM. We are talking about equal opportunities for all marketers to work and access the World Wide Web. Right again?
Under Obama's administration, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has earned itself a respectful reputation as the guardian of the Net neutrality galaxy. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) played strictly by the neutrality rules and everything seemed to be OK. Until now. According to the results of the latest elections the Republicans have the majority in Congress and their candidate as the US President. They also have something called the Internet Freedom Act. I took the liberty to read a thing or two about this bill that still has to be discussed and eventually approved. It basically completely neutralizes the Net neutrality. Also, the Republicans don't have a thing to worry about the potential veto regarding this act. So, as it seems this is a done deal and we can forget about Net neutrality.
Finally, why should we care? Well, Net Neutrality and Internet Marketing is a lovely title for a dissertation or some other similar document. However, in the real marketing life, it can be a problem. How? I would love to give some jaw-dropping example, but I can't. The only thing I can remember is the trouble with the streaming speed the Netflix had to solve by paying to ISPs. Something like that. Now, I don't think that's very likely that some e-commerce website and business would have to pay for equal online opportunities, but without the Net neutrality, there are no guarantees. I'm also imagining my client who says to me forget about our next project because our content can't be published online for this or that reason.
How do you feel about Net neutrality and the real possibility to end it with a single legal act? Do you care at all? The Internet without its neutrality can or can't influence IM?
Then we had the US Presidential Election. It seems that Trump has nothing to do with IM, so nobody bothered to ask a question about it. For what is worth, I stumble upon some articles online about the complex relationship between Trump and the Silicon Valley guys. Again, it was a little bit too much for my taste. So, I thought, finally the good old IM is going to be left aside regarding the latest political tsunami. Guess, this was a little bit naive expectations as I was soon to find out in this article:
Trump and net neutrality: How Republicans can make the rules go away | Ars Technica
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know what the Net Neutrality is all about, do you? The Internet is supposed to be free, open, and therefore neutral. Otherwise, it's not the Internet as we know and use it. Right? The same things apply to IM. We are talking about equal opportunities for all marketers to work and access the World Wide Web. Right again?
Under Obama's administration, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has earned itself a respectful reputation as the guardian of the Net neutrality galaxy. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers) played strictly by the neutrality rules and everything seemed to be OK. Until now. According to the results of the latest elections the Republicans have the majority in Congress and their candidate as the US President. They also have something called the Internet Freedom Act. I took the liberty to read a thing or two about this bill that still has to be discussed and eventually approved. It basically completely neutralizes the Net neutrality. Also, the Republicans don't have a thing to worry about the potential veto regarding this act. So, as it seems this is a done deal and we can forget about Net neutrality.
Finally, why should we care? Well, Net Neutrality and Internet Marketing is a lovely title for a dissertation or some other similar document. However, in the real marketing life, it can be a problem. How? I would love to give some jaw-dropping example, but I can't. The only thing I can remember is the trouble with the streaming speed the Netflix had to solve by paying to ISPs. Something like that. Now, I don't think that's very likely that some e-commerce website and business would have to pay for equal online opportunities, but without the Net neutrality, there are no guarantees. I'm also imagining my client who says to me forget about our next project because our content can't be published online for this or that reason.
How do you feel about Net neutrality and the real possibility to end it with a single legal act? Do you care at all? The Internet without its neutrality can or can't influence IM?