Net Neutrality is a Leftist Socialist Plot to Silence Dissent

True story.

Okay I lied. But that's okay. On the Internet you can say anything you want. Lies, deception, slander, and so much spin that it sends Superman back in time. It's a boon to the far right. And the far left. Extremists thrive on cheap, open places to lie, and the Internet is the best.

The Internet is also the biggest fact-checking machine in the world. It has facts and it has people who like to spend time comparing claims and those facts.

But these are all sissy 'freedom' arguments. So let's go with this instead: the Internet drove the massive economic growth of the 90s and continues to drive growth and efficiency.

I'm sure you know this already.

So instead let's look at what happens when people who either do not understand or do not appreciate the Internet attempt to influence and regulate it. I am of course referring to net neutrality.

Specifically, opposition to it.

The government has been meddling in the Internet since before it was born. In other words, it created the Internet and then shoveled money at it until it transformed the world. All the while it kept poking around in the Internet telling traffic to go wherever it wanted and told everyone to play fair. That was net neutrality, letting everyone talk at the same speed.

It wasn't a fairness doctrine. It was an awesome doctrine. It was an idea that made it so anyone could run a business or send an idea, or shop and listen. This was government regulation against regulation, essentially saying "No one will regulate this." That's net neutrality.

But people paranoid about government regulation either don't understand this or are actively and consciously working against the freedom of the Internet.

http://mediamatters.org/research/201011220055