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Why The FCC's Net Neutrality Vote May Have Just Saved The Startup Ecosystem

This article is more than 9 years old.

After years of urging and rallying and petition-signing from Internet activists, the once-unthinkable is imminent: The FCC voted to classify and regulate the Internet as a utility, laying the groundwork for what is commonly (and boringly) called "net neutrality".

From a consumer's perspective, you'll be able to stop wondering if there is some nefarious reason your Netflix is slow: The vote prohibits ISPs from slowing down some content, while ushering others along a "fast lane"—an outcome that may otherwise be inevitable when an ISP such as Comcast is also serving as a carrier for Netflix, which provides a service that competes directly with Comcast's cable offerings.

But one of the largest impacts of the net neutrality ruling is one that many consumers are likely not aware of (although it indirectly impacts them in a major way): The FCC just made it a whole lot easier for startups to start up.

Imagine a world where any video or audio-streaming service had to cut deals with ISPs to ensure their content wasn't delivered at an intolerably low bit rate. Only established players—or ones with cozy connections to the ISPs—would be able to play ball, and the rate of innovation in this space would suffer.

Imagine a world where pictures on photo-sharing apps loaded at a terribly slow pace because the app developer had refused to (or was unable to) pay to put their product in a "fast lane".

Imagine an entire Internet of Things ecosystem of products that don't quite work right, because their Kickstarted makers didn't have the cash to make sure their connections were prioritized.Before the FCC's recent ruling, such an outcome wasn't just a distant possibility—it was highly likely and perhaps even inevitable. So many of the tech and apps and gadgets and products we use started their lives at tiny startups that were only able to succeed because their products' data made it through the Internet with some degree of reliability and consistency. Making that basic transaction more difficult or more costly would mean less innovation, fewer great products and services, and far fewer jobs.

Politicians love to talk about how much they support small businesses and the jobs they create. No political cause will have as much of a direct impact as net neutrality on the future of small businesses in this country.

Startups have a lot of things to worry about (I would know: I run one). But worrying about paying an extra tax to ISPs just to make sure their product or site or app works right shouldn't be one of them. Now, it won't be. And that's something we should all be grateful for.

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