A Few Thoughts on Net Neutrality

As a newcomer to the world of Information Technology, I had no concept of "net neutrality " less than a month ago. To educate myself on the subject, I began in the place where most of my research begins, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality).

The net neutrality debate poses an interesting choice for those who ascribe to American traditions of free markets and free speech. On the one hand, notions of free enterprise support the idea of entities being able to package and sell their product in the way they choose. This is countered by net-neutrality advocates who remind us that government has an important role in regulating monopolies, trusts, and communications, especially as they relate to public resources. Supporters on this side believe government regulation is required to maintain and promote the internet's advances thus far, and to continue this progress in the future.

One thing that became immediately apparent when I began to search the web for relevant sites was that supporters of net neutrality had an advantage just by defining the term. An overwhelming majority of pro net-neutrality sites appeared on the first pages of Google and Yahoo when entering the search, "net neutrality." The opponents have yet to coin an appropriate counter-phrase that lends itself to easy searches on the internet in a way that other issues have been defined, such as abortion, where we have numerous "pro-choice" and "pro-life" sites. It is difficult to promote a position based on "anti-neutrality."

There is clear advantage in being the first to define the terms of any argument or debate, or in adopting catch phrases and labels. For historical and political junkies in the audience, you may recall the less than impressive tenure and success of the Anti-Federalist movement (at least in terms of name-longevity, though not necessarily in terms of philosophy) versus the Federalist party in early American history. It is not necessarily the prefix, "anti," that leads to such a disadvantage; "anti-war" movements have had an easier time defining themselves than their opponents. People may have a position regarding a specific situation, but relatively few consistently rally under the banner of "pro-war," or consider themselves "pro-war activists." To date, net neutrality opponents lack an appropriate search-term/phrase that readily leads to internet sites supporting their position. Any ideas?