For decades, the Left has asserted that we have a right to a variety of values, from a “living wage” to education, from health care to high speed Internet access. In making these fallacious claims, they advocate violating actual rights.
If we have a right to a particular value then the producers of that value violate our rights when they do not provide it. If we have a right to health care, doctors violate our rights when they do not provide treatment. If we have a right to high speed Internet access, then service providers violate our rights is they do not provide it.
According to the Left, doctors and Internet service providers are obligated to provide a value, regardless of their own judgment or desires. According to the Left, doctors and Internet service providers should not be free to use their property as they choose. According to the Left, the rights of doctors and Internet service providers are subordinate to the “rights” of Internet users.
The Left claims that government regulations are necessary to keep the Internet open and free. This is Orwellian doublethink. Regulations are the exact opposite of freedom. Regulations force producers to engage in specific actions or refrain from other actions. For example, net neutrality prohibits Internet service providers from charging different rates or offering different levels of service.
For seventy years, the government prohibited competition in the phone industry under the guise of protecting consumers. When the government imposed monopoly was ended, the telephone industry unleashed a torrent of innovation. Net neutrality will do to the Internet what all government regulations do–stifle innovation.
Internet service providers have a right to use their property as they choose. This includes tiered pricing, varied access speeds, and anything else that they deem appropriate. Those who don’t like the policies of one company are free to find another or do without.
If we really want a free and open Internet, then we should demand that the government keeps its hands off.