Net Neutrality is Frugal. Save Yourself Some Money. Write Your Congressman.

Reading This Could Save You Money

I don’t talk about politics on my website.  That’s not it’s purpose.  It’s purpose is to save you money and hopefully make you happy.

In this case these two things overlap.

I want you to imagine a world where you can’t go to websites like mine anymore because they are so slow you finally just close them down.  ALL those recipes from small bloggers you have on Pinterest would take minutes to load instead of seconds.  Your small hometown banks website would keep timing out for your security because it can’t load fast enough and stay secure.  You get in bed at night to watch Netflix and it just buffers.  Your kid wants to stream music and then sits on the floor and cries because he can’t.

Your friend who supports her family by having a small shop online selling camera cases can’t compete against the money from large retailers.  Her site gets lost and that income is gone.

And honestly, without Net Neutrality, my job will likely be gone as well.  And so will my website.  

This is our world without Net Neutrality.

What Is Going On

On December 14th the Federal Communications Committee (FCC in the USA) is set to make changes that will allow Communications Providers (ISPs, Verizon, Comcast, AT&T, etc) to pick and choose what websites load faster or make sites purposefully load slower for you.

If you’re reading this, it’s because we have an open internet where every piece of information must be treated equally.  This concept is called “Net Neutrality” and in our digital day and age, it protects free speech and encourages competition to make the best content I can.

Comcast, Verizon and AT&T have paid millions in lobbying to make this happen and the current head of the FCC was a former Lawyer for Verizon.  They want net neutrality gone so they can charge fees to sites like this one to keep the website loading fast and if I don’t pay, it would be legal for them to artificially slow down the loading of my site when you want to read something here.

This is a very big deal for everyone.  Because sites can be pushed to the top or sites can be buried into obscurity not based on merit, but how much they can pay.  Apps, online services, video services and much more can be purposefully slowed down so you are forced into Comcasts video stream service, Verizons music player, or what ever product/service the big companies want to see at the top.  It would remove the free market principals our economy has been built on and eliminate competition.

These companies have already tried these tactics before, but because of Net Neutrality rules consumers had a legal standing to stop them.  Communication companies have used similar methods to slow protest sites, block union websites from load, prevent people from being able to access google wallet, paypal, and other payment services.  Comcast in negotiations with Netflix slowed their connection speeds when Netflix refused to agree to unreasonable fees, once Netflix signed the contract, the speeds were magically restored.

How This Affects You

I know many of my readers have gotten rid of cable.  Imagine if your internet was set up like your cable.  So you pay $49.99 a month for Internet?  Great you can get these 5,000 websites.  Oh your kid likes some obscure Japanese Anime?  It’s not in your package.  But it can be for $99.99 a month.  Oh you are a photographer and want to download videos and store them online?  Well that package is $149.99.

THIS is what will happen.  THIS is what those companies WANT to have happen.

But many other companies don’t.

For Once We Aren’t Alone- We Have Some Big Dogs In This Fight

So today I ask you to join me here at A Frugal Chick along with the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Google, Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and Microsoft in sending a clear message to our law makers.  Net Neutrality needs to stay, it’s imperative that we have a free and open internet.  It is NOT frugal to get rid of Net Neutrality.

If you’re willing to join me, go to this site to call or e-mail your representative: https://www.battleforthenet.com If you prefer not to use that site you can find all your representatives here.

I understand that often right now it feels like we can’t do anything.  Politicians are doing whatever they want.  We have stopped this before- this isn’t the first time this has come up.  PLEASE take the time today to do this.

If you need a sample e-mail this will work:

I urge you to stop the FCC’s plan to end net neutrality *before* the FCC’s December 14th vote.

I don’t want ISPs to have the power to block websites, slow them down, give some sites an advantage over others, split the Internet into “fast lanes” for companies that pay and “slow lanes” for the rest, or force me to buy special “tiers” to access the sites and services I choose. But that’s exactly what the FCC plan would do.

Blocking & throttling by ISPs is a serious problem. Comcast has throttled Netflix, AT&T blocked FaceTime, Time Warner Cable throttled the popular game League of Legends, and Verizon admitted it will introduce fast lanes for sites that pay-and slow lanes for everyone else-if the FCC lifts the rules. This hurts consumers and businesses large and small.

If some companies can pay ISPs to have their content load faster, startups and small businesses that can’t pay those fees won’t be able to compete. This will kill the open marketplace that has enabled millions of small businesses and created America’s 5 most valuable companies. Without strong net neutrality protections, Internet providers will effectively be able to impose a tax on every sector of the American economy.

Moreover, under Chairman Pai’s plan, ISPs will be able to make it more difficult to access political speech that they don’t like. They’ll be able to charge fees for website delivery that would make it harder for blogs, nonprofits, artists, and others who can’t pay up to have their voices heard.

If the FCC passes their current order, every Internet user and business in this country will be unprotected from abuse by Internet providers, and the consequences will be dire. Please publicly support net neutrality protections by denouncing the FCC’s current plan. Do whatever you can to stop Chairman Pai, to ensure that businesses and Internet users remain protected.

Thank you!