Virgin Media Just Doesn't Get It

I normally wouldn't talk of these kind of things unless they really bothered me, but living where I do, I got broadband internet only a bit over a year ago. This news is something that could revert most of my web browsing back to what I just came from. So I WILL fight for it.

As many internet users know, Virgin Media announced they are planning to cancel net neutrality for their users. In otherwords, websites that don't pay money to Virgin will lose the ability to be visited at normal speeds, causing them to lose viewers because they are slow. If you like a site other than youtube for your video watching purposes, and youtube pays and the other doesn't, youtube will be viewable and your site will be impractical. Virgin has been saying at some places they are just going to speed up the paying sites and leaving the non-payer sites normal, but they are actually going to bring their speed down to around that of dial-up. Speed isn't just a luxury on the internet you can do without. This makes it virtually impossible for some websites that stream quality material that requires a good connection(beyond video or online programming), setting a standard that will need to be met.

This all means one thing for the users, downgrading. It is just as bad as if they wanted to say that all users will now have to pay $15 more monthly just to have their internet connection. And if Virgin Media succeeds without resistance, they will encourage other ISPs to do it too. Companies other than Virgin have talked about this for years, never acting on it, waiting for someone else to go out and do it, so it will happen if Virgin greenlights the idea. If this happens, it will pick up momentum and become something the community accepts, even though it shouldn't have to. This is similar to the way gas prices rise. These companies are abusing our desire for the internet to earn money off of our needs. No one complains about stopping gas prices rising, they just grumble and carry on, because it is something that would be hard to achieve. This however, is easier to boycott and destroy.

IF Virgin pulls this off somehow, I am going to bet they will lose many of their clients, and if those clients go, the sites that pay them will lose their viewers too, pulling on Virgin the way it should. So, this is not a matter of waiting for some group to stand out and protect internet rights, it is a matter of the users. There is no group that regulates the internet rights, WE have to do it. Don't sit around like a non-voter, thinking their vote won't count. You aren't the only one who thinks that way if you do.

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