Steve Kovach December 16, 2017 at 05:45AM
- The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to repeal its net neutrality rules.
- The repeal is good news for Facebook, Google, Amazon, and the other big internet companies that have deep pockets and can afford to pay any tolls put in place by the internet providers.
- The repeal could make the Big Tech companies even more powerful, because their smaller rivals will likely have less ability to afford such fees.
In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission's vote Thursday to dismantle its net neutrality rules, there's been a lot of talk about how the move will destroy the free and open nature of the internet.
I'm not going to dismiss such concerns. But I think they ignore a bigger problem — the biggest technology companies were already threatening the openness of the internet, and the repeal of net neutrality is only going to make the situation worse.
The internet today looks a lot different than it did in its early days. It's now dominated by a small handful of large tech companies that arguably have more power than the internet providers that the FCC regulated under its net neutrality rules. Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Amazon wield immense control over how we interact with others, get our entertainment, consume news, and shop. Chances are if you experience something online, you're likely doing it through or by way of one of those Big Tech companies.
Those companies' power has grown almost unabated, thanks in large part due to the open nature of the internet. Now, the end of regulations designed to keep the internet open are likely to cement their dominance.
The net neutrality provisions barred broadband providers from block, slowing, or giving preferred treatment to particular sites and services. The repeal of those rules will allow the providers to do things they basically haven't been able to do before, which will likely mean fewer choices and higher prices for you and me.
But the ending of the rules likely won't just mean added costs for consumers; it's also likely to mean new fees for internet companies. In the absence of the net-neutrality provisions, one of the things broadband providers will likely attempt is to charge internet companies tolls to send their web pages or stream their videos to the providers' customers.
The repeal of net neutrality could mean added costs — but more power — for Big Tech
Ironically, this could be good news for Big Tech.
Say, for example, Comcast starts charging streaming video providers fees to send their movies, shows, and clips over its wires. Netflix and Google-owned YouTube will likely have no problem shelling out the cash. They won't like it, mind you, but with their deep pockets, they'll be able to afford it.
However, the smaller video-streaming companies — whether ones that target particular niches or nascent ones that are aiming to be the next Netflix — likely won't have things so easy. Many probably won't be able to afford such pay-to-play schemes.
And that's just in video. Imagine similar fees targeting messaging providers, e-commerce outlets, or social networking services. The post-net neutrality internet could severely weaken or kill off startup or bootstrapped companies — leaving the current giants even more powerful and much more secure.
To get another idea of how Big Tech could benefit from the repeal of the net neutrality rules, take a look at some of the countries in the developing world whose citizens are just now starting to connect to the internet. In some of those countries, Google and Facebook have signed deals with particular carriers. While the carriers often charge pricey fees for access to the broader internet, those deals — which it's likely only the Big Tech companies can afford — allow their customers to access Google and Facebook for free.
Thanks to such preferential agreements, many consumers in those countries think Google and Facebook are the internet, not realizing there is a vast universe of other sites and services online.
Big Tech's silence was deafening — and revealing
Big Tech has frequently mouthed its support for net neutrality. But if you want to get a sense of what those companies really think about the rules' repeal, take a look at their actions immediately prior to Thursday's vote. Most of them kept a safe distance from the controversy or were completely silent on the issue, only to release stronger statements after the repeal passed.
"For the most part, the large tech companies did not engage in the protest," the New York Times noted two days before the vote. "In the past, the companies have played a leading role in supporting the rules."
Their silence was deafening.
There are a lot of reasons to be upset over the FCC's decision to repeal the net neutrality rules. You should worry about your broadband provider or wireless carrier increasing prices, charging you more to use certain services, or doing other things that might degrade your internet experience.
But the potential that the repeal could make Facebook, Google, Amazon, and the rest of Big Tech even more powerful is equally as troubling — and deserves just as much scrutiny.
SEE ALSO: What the net neutrality repeal means for you
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Everyone's missing the other part of the net neutrality debate — Big Tech is poised to become even more powerful from Business Insider: Steve Kovach
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