Did you know that Internet service can discriminate? We didn’t, either. But there’s a big new push to change the rules that govern discrimination in Internet services, and it’s causing some major friction. It has the potential to have a MAJOR impact on everyone in the country, so let’s take a look at what’s happening.
Here are Five Fast Facts on the new rules for Internet service discrimination:
- 📝 The Setting - In 2021, Congress ordered the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure that every American had good access to broadband Internet service. Who’s not on board with that?
- 🚫 The Changes - The FCC has now adopted rules that will allow them to review, investigate, and punish instances of discrimination by Internet service providers on the basis of income, race, ethnicity, and other “protected” classes.
- ✋ The Pushback - The telecom industry opposes these new rules, saying it’ll force regulations that are unnecessary and will drive up costs (or reduce services). They argue that it’s also illegal because most – if not all – business practices have different impacts on customers with different income levels.
- 📉 A Recent Example - They raise a good point which played out very recently. When similar rules were killed just a few years ago, prices went down and broadband speeds went up. When providers are forced to build services customers don’t want (and won’t pay for) or infrastructure to protect against even accusations of discrimination, it reduces how much they can invest into the products and services that are used.
- 😲 Giant Red Flag - Probably the biggest concern – one raised by some members of the commission itself – is the naked power grab by the government. If they start including income or wealth as protected classes against which discrimination occurs, then literally everything with a price tag becomes subject to government control. Got a premium product or service that costs a lot to make so you have to charge a lot for it? Not anymore, that’s discrimination!
🔥Bottom line: No one’s ever found any actual evidence of discrimination in Internet services, of course, but that’s not stopping them from claiming it as the reason for this power grab, including control over discounts, languages, credit checks, marketing, and more.
This is a big, BIG deal. If the government starts using price discrimination to bully Internet service providers, then it’s only a matter of time until they move on to bully everyone else. The reality is that it does take money to make products and provide services, and not everyone can afford everything. But if the government starts forcing everything to be affordable for everyone, then guess who’s going to pay the difference? You, the taxpayer. Or you just end up with garbage products and services.
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