Meinrath and Pickard’s article discusses an important issue that surrounds mobile society: net neutrality. Net neutrality is the fair treatment of all internet content in that it will move at the same speed over the network. Internet providers can’t favor certain internet information over others. In the United States, the FCC sets guidelines banning cable television and internet service providers from inhibiting user’s access to competitors or certain websites. In late December of 2010, the FCC approved plan to regulate the internet with a ruling that would prevent provider service companies from blocking or slowing broadband services to competitor websites. However, opponents of net neutrality feel that these recent regulations of the internet are a prediction of possible future regulations, such as shutting down sites similar to WikiLeaks.
Meinrath and Pickard continue to point out that network neutrality does not solve the existing telecommunications problems such as media conglomerization and the lack of diverse ownership. The authors continue to advocate for more competition and different perspectives within the broadband market. This topic reminds me of the ad-supported cable industry, also referred to as basic cable. The ad-supported cable networks industry is evolving as media conglomerates and new advancements are changing the traditional methods of programming distribution. The ad-supported cable industry mainly consists of several major companies owning a large percentage of the basic cable networks. Walt Disney, Time Warner, General Electric, Viacom, and News Corporation are some of the major players in the basic cable industry. This type of media outlet is also encountering problems concerning a lack of competition, diversity, and few large mega-media corporations, leaving little room for smaller companies to thrive.
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