Goodbye Net Neutrality - Hello Net Discrimination
Net Neutrality used to matter. Soon, it won't. Recent actions by the SEC and FCC are undermining US competitiveness. Greed hurts everyone - even the greedy - but it'll especially hurt small businesses and our kids even more.
Well, it was a good idea.
Everyone, everywhere, regardless of your size or complexity, should have unfettered access to the Internet; everyone's packets should get treated the same way no matter who you are; the superhighway shouldn't get an HOV lane or a premium lane or levied a toll for crossing; the Internet should be a neutral place where anyone could get their foot in the door, to become the next Facebook, Apple, or Google.
Net Neutrality has been a long-standing idea behind the design and implementation and regulation of the Internet. Until now.
All that's about to change.
New changes in upcoming FCC regulation will allow ISP's (already fattened, regulated monopolies in this country) to charge for higher speed access to American consumers, effectively creating a fast lane for premium rate-payers.
That's bad news for small business who'll end up having to pay more to keep up with a premium "look and feel" as the larger companies who can afford the higher transfer rates.
It'll also keep downward pressure on startups and innovators who want to disrupt the ecosystem and dethrone the reigning content providers.
It's bad news for web design and developers who'll need to create tiers of design strategies based on the bandwidth budgets of their customers.
And it's bad news for the consumer who'll suffer through second-class speeds unless they browse to the websites of premium rate-payers. Let alone our Internet speeds suck. In Seoul and Stockholm, users are paying $25/month - 1/17th of the American price-tag - for gigabyte service: 100x faster than what we in the United States experience. The average Joe from South Korea flies out here and thinks we live in a 3rd world banana republic because our Internet connectivity is so bad. And with the recent Time Warner/Comcast merger, US consumer is left getting kicked in the ribs over and over again.
If the Internet is the emergent platform for innovation in business, commerce, medicine, engineering, biotechnology, nanotechnology, cloud computing, big data, research, and education, the FCC and SEC are doing their darnedest to keep the United States in a perpetual state of uncompetitiveness. Over time, greed and discrimination hurts everyone - even the greedy. Except it'll hurt our small businesses and our kids even more.
R
Small Business: Innovate or Attenuate
Are you a small business owner? Why are you doing the same thing, year after year? Why aren't you changing? Evolving? Innovating? Now's the time. There's no better time to think differently
So you're a small business owner?
Go ahead. Keep doing the same thing.
Keep using the same business processes, the same hardware and software, the same approaches to your business game that you've been using for the last decade. Heck, maybe even before then.
Keep hiring the same kinds of people, execute the same strategy, depend on the same marketing techniques, and say the same thing about your product or service.
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? It's safe? It's what you've always done? You're afraid of alternatives? Consequences? Real and perceived risk? Losses? Embarrassment?
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? You believe the world is static - technology isn't reinventing your industry, consumer preferences aren't changing, and that the perceived value of your product or service doesn't continually wane in the eyes of your consumer?
Keep doing the same thing because ... ? You like consistency. You dislike change. You want to keep the cheese right where it is, thank you, and that makes you feel comfortable. Comfortable is preferable to disruption.
Keep doing the same thing and - in comparison to your competitors - your costs will increase, your margins will erode, your perceived value will diminish, your market share will shrink, and you will be slow: you shall be the master of the wrong product, at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
But maybe, in the end, you'll still feel good about it? If not, upswings in the economy are times to innovate. Do something different. Spend a little money to R&D - try new things, in new ways, to question your assumptions and think differently. And a great place to start is with your business processes and systems automation.
R
Why Heartbleed is a Good Thing
Yeah, Heartbleed was pretty bad. But know what would be worse? Going on, assuming everything was okay. Exposed technical vulnerabilities gets us to question our assumptions and make sweeping improvements, improving all of our security.
Don't get me wrong: Heartbleed wasn't a shining moment in tech security and I'm not super-glad that the vulnerability occurred. Still, personally, I'm pretty happy when stuff like this hits the fan.
Well, I suppose I'm glad in a "question authority" kind-of-way. When a wide-ranging vulnerability like this is brought into the open, it gets us in the technology security field off of our butts to, one, provide a remedy to the most immediate problem, but two, question all of our assumptions.
Incidents like Heartbleed, Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, and the good work conducted by Wikileaks, gets technology professionals to look more carefully at our solutions. It forces us to think differently. These incidents also reveal certain threats that we may haven't foreseen. They also lead us down a path of hardening our all our technologies in short-order to curtail compromise. In all, situations like Heartbleed elevates all of our security postures. They make all of us safer.
Arguably, what wasn't safe was continuing to live in ignorance as Heartbleed was exploited, or, while the NSA was wiretapping private data centers without warrants, or, believing that corporations and governments always have our best interests in mind. Assuming everything is okay wasn't safe. Proving flaws and vulnerabilities - even if the outcomes are undesirable - is how we all get better.
Question authority. Further, question our assumptions. Learn, build awareness, and do better next time. That's what will improve cyber security.
R