Is the End of Net Neutrality the End of Small Business?

[Candy]

With the recent repeal of Net Neutrality, many small business owners are worried. Net Neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers should grant equal access to everything on the Internet. This puts small businesses and large corporations on the same playing field because both have the same opportunities when it comes to the Internet. Before the repeal of Net Neutrality, the Internet was one of the only level playing fields for entrepreneurs. It took a little savvy and know-how to rank well on the most popular search engines, but small businesses had just as much opportunity to rank in the top slots as big business, allowing them to carve out business. However, many fear that the end of Net Neutrality could mean that small businesses will suffer because they will not be able to compete in a pay to play Internet that may arise under the new law.

Internet service giants like Comcast will be able to choose what you see first, which web pages load faster, and they might even choose to block competitors all together. This means that the mom and popshops of the Internet might not be able to compete for these 3 reasons:
1) They might not show up on search engines.
2) Their webpage might load so slowly that potential customers leave.
3) Their webpage might be blocked completely.

Many experts believe that the roll back of Net Neutrality might mean that the internet will look a lot like cable TV, with packages of web sites available at certain price points and if you are not paying for access, you might not be able to see content. This end to Net Neutrality means that Internet services providers can essentially charge both the content providers and the end users to be able to be seen and be see respectively. All told, this means that not everyone will have access to the same Internet, and they might loose access to online resources.

A pay to play Internet could be problematic for many entrepreneurs and might end the phenomena of being able to remotely shop small that has given many small business owners the ability to thrive. Many believe that the user should control what they see and what they do online, not the Internet service provider.

But for all the worry and uncertainty, the end of Net Neutrality might end up to be a good thing, as many believe that it puts consumers and private businesses back in charge of how the Internet operates. After all, no Internet service provider wants to be known for having slow service so there might not be anything for small business owners to worry about.

[Author]

Posts