Net neutrality fuels innovation and must be preserved
Like the interstate highway system, railroads and public power utilities before it, the internet has become an indispensable resource that fuels innovation, healthy competition and growth in the American economy. But that engine of prosperity will be irreparably harmed if plans to end net neutrality come to fruition.
Net neutrality creates a level playing field for businesses by ensuring that too much power doesn’t fall into the hands of too few. If it’s eliminated, the world’s five largest broadband service providers will gain unfettered control over who gets access to the internet and how fast their internet connection speeds will be. That is a recipe for favoritism and unfair competition that flies in the face of traditional American business values.
The end of net neutrality would additionally give larger companies with countless resources an unfair advantage over competing small and midsize businesses — the U.S. economy’s most productive innovators and job creators.
This is why I’m asking every citizen to join Carbonite in urging U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai to halt the steps he is taking to do away with net neutrality protections. Pai’s proposed “deregulation” of the telecommunications industry simply translates to letting large internet carriers boost profits at the expense of innovation and job creation across America.
Earlier today, I was pleased to welcome U.S. Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and a diverse group of Massachusetts-based technology companies to the Carbonite offices to discuss innovation and the net neutrality issue. We talked about how all our companies are heavily dependent on equal access to the internet to provide the best service possible to our customers at fair and reasonable prices.
We discussed how companies that are just starting out, companies that are still being dreamed about, and every person in this country (students, parents, teachers, do-it-yourselfers) are heavily dependent on fair and equal access to the internet to solve problems and inspire new ideas.
For Carbonite, even a one-second delay in our internet performance could degrade our service and ultimately threaten jobs, not just those of Carbonite employees, but jobs at small businesses around the world who rely on Carbonite to get their businesses up and running after a data disaster.
The dozen companies who joined me today all provide unique products and services — from travel planning and industrial devices to job recruitment, robots and advertising — but we all have one thing in common: We all depend on the internet as a foundation for innovation. We must not let our shared future be determined by the narrow interests of a handful of large internet carriers. This is why Carbonite is taking action to support net neutrality.
