Matt Scinto's Blog

Internet regulation is certainly a touchy subject; while the mainstream tends to sway towards keeping the web neutral, major companies and CEO’s have been putting their foot down and note the hindering effects of net neutrality legislation turning into actual law. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, while agreeing with the notion that “end users have a final say about web experiences” (M. Perez, Information Week), still affirms that government regulation will only slow down innovation on the internet, rather than promote it, a point of view that is usually the other way around. Many agree that without network neutrality, that is, an internet that is not monopolized by major businesses and companies, innovation will slowly decline as control falls into the hands of providers. However, many major companies feel that regulation will only slow this innovation, rather than promote it. As George H. Pike, a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh specialized in online legalities puts it, “restrictions may have the unintended consequence of restricting innovation, particularly in the content or technologies that are bandwidth-sensitive…mobile service providers argue that they need maximum flexibility” (‘Information Today’). The general consensus by internet providers is that restrictions on companies would limit how they are able to control their network in the event that they need to.