In case you missed it, President Obama made his own attempt to break the Internet with his comments on net neutrality last week. The president said he supported the idea of reclassifying Internet service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934.
Not everyone supports net neutrality, though. Check out the infographic below for a simple breakdown of what net neutrality is.
Net neutrality supporters feel that Internet service providers should make all content available equally, not speeding up or slowing down online content for their own benefit. Many are afraid that any manipulation of content flow could hurt the freedom of speech enjoyed on the Internet.
Internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon currently bring the web to homes, where people can access any website and download information at the same speed, regardless of which website it is. Should net neutrality laws not be passed, ISPs could charge websites more for their content to be seen, and access smaller websites that can’t pay fees could be blocked.
Ohm Radio on net neutrality
“Title II is the right way to go,” says Virginia Friedman, a higher-up at Ohm Radio 96.3 FM, one of Charleston’s up-and-coming radio channels. “No special treatment for wealthy companies while small mom-and-pop businesses and individuals hit a wall.”
Friedman says the channel’s mission, aside from playing stellar music, is to strengthen democracy. Ohm Radio has a common interest with net neutrality supporters—protecting open media. “We believe that a democracy must have a free press and open media in order to flourish. It’s a really bad idea to have all your information sources controlled by four or five corporate giants,” Friedman says.
Ohm Radio, an initiative by Media Reform South Carolina, wants to bring eight hours a day of locally produced programming to Charleston’s listening ears by August 2015. “Charleston has talented, educated, creative people who are fully capable of bringing quality news, information and music to the local airwaves,” Friedman says. “The reason for Ohm Radio’s existence is so big and beautiful, it makes me blush.”
“We support net neutrality and hope that the FCC will decide to keep the Internet open and free,” says Friedman. “When you reduce the opportunity for a diversity of voices on the airwaves, the marketplace of ideas is jeopardized.”
Watch this video to learn more about Ohm Radio.
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