If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposes net neutrality rules, it could bring high bandwidth costs that will be passed onto the consumer, says Phil Kerpen of the Internet Freedom Coalition.
"The major corporate interests involved in this fight are the huge content consumers, content producers, streamers, Netflix and Google, which owns YouTube, on one hand," Kerpen told J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV Monday.
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On the other side of the debate over whether or not the federal agency will impose regulations on content streamers by making them pay for the high quantity of broadband that they use via what they call internet "fast lanes" are companies such as Netflix and Google, which owns YouTube.
According to Kerpen, "the big corporate question is, will end users, you and me and everyone else with an internet connection, be forced to pay all of the costs of the downstream bandwidth consumption of Netflix and YouTube and other huge servers of video content."
The other possibility is that those "big content companies might be asked to pay some of that cost," he explained.
"We don't know whether that'll actually make sense from a business standpoint," he said.
"YouTube and Netflix are scared of that possibility and they want it to be ruled out as a matter of law and regulation to guarantee they'll never have to pay their downstream bandwidth costs," he added.
Sept. 15 was the last day that the public could post comments about whether or not they think the FCC should regulate internet traffic. Comments reached a record 3.7 million.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler testified before the House Small Business Committee Wednesday, and the Senate Judiciary committee debated net neutrality on the same day.
Wheeler explained that the FCC is looking to regulate the internet in the same way that it regulates phone companies so that it will remain competitive for new businesses and start-ups to compete with bigger internet companies,
U.S. News & World Report reports.
Those who oppose such regulations fear that it will scare investors away, and Republican lawmakers contend that the internet became successful without government intrusion.
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