The Monopolizing of the Internet
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- Category: Robert Dexter
- Published on Thursday, 02 December 2010 13:43
- Written by Robert Dexter
There has been a lot of controversy in the last year regarding how the Internet is changing traditional social interactions, politics, diplomacy, governing, etc. Recently, Wikileaks was back in the news for releasing confidential communications between American Diplomats. Facebook was in the news for security lapses that released personal data to third party vendors without the consent of its users. Unfortunately, Wikileaks and Facebook are peanuts to the blatant manipulation and disregard for net neutrality that is spawning out the big Internet corporate titans like Google and mega service providers like Comcast.
As reported in the New York Times , Comcast attempted to charge Level 3 (a Netflix corporate partner that provides instant-view access to millions of Netflix customers) a fee for the delivery of its content to their Comcast Internet subscribers. According to the report in the New York Times, Level 3 responded stating that this policy would "threaten the openness of the Internet, and indicated that it would seek government intervention." Comcast quickly denied that the clash had anything to do with network neutrality, instead calling it "a simple commercial dispute."
The best way to think of this issue is picture yourself cruzing down I-95 and you see this really cool diner. So you get off the freeway and the toll man says "where are you going?"
You respond "that cool diner at the end of the road."
He then tells you because you are driving 5.6 miles down the road it will cost you $25.00 to get through the tollbooth but if you want to go to McDonald's you will be driving 5.8 miles but they pay the toll man so you will only have to pay $10.00.
The concern here is not alarmist. Comcast has announced its intent to purchase NBC Universal from General Electric for $14 billion. It is still undergoing approval by federal regulators but this would be no small development in American media. With the addition of NBC Universal, Comcast, with a $57.7 billion market cap, would become the largest media company in America.
. As a result, Comcast would now own the entire media production process from development to delivery. This is problematic considering that Internet delivery of media is and will continue to become the chosen and only utilized form of video media communication in the next 20 years. In 20 years, the traditional model of having 500 channels with 24 hour programming will not exist. You will be able to sit down at a system and select the shows you want to watch and decide when you want to watch them.
Comcast would now own the entire operation from top to bottom. They would have the ability to control who gets information and at what speed. Like politics, the mantra of "Pay to Play" would rule the day. Providers that could not pay would be forced into second class Internet where delivery of information would be slowed, restricted, or ultimately blocked.
Comcast has to consider Netflix a growing major player in online media delivery. By some estimates, Netflix control close to 20 % of the peak Internet media viewing audience. If Comcast could make Netflix a less viable option, this would cut them off at the knees. With one less competitor in the market, Comcast will be able to utilize NBC's interest in services like Hulu and the already available Internet content for NBC shows to promote their content over others. The Internet is in transition. In the last decade marketers, businesses, and capital interests are starting to understand that money can and will be made on the Internet and the monopolizing and control of this power will change our current corporate power structure. We need to make sure that 15 years from now we do not have to fight a controlling force to role back the controls that they have developed.
