Losing net neutrality is a loss for small businesses

Rhonda Abrams | Special for USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Net neutrality clears a hurdle in Senate The U.S. Senate voted, largely along party lines, to protect Obama-era net neutrality rules threatened by the FCC, but the measure still needs to pass in the U.S. House.

Last month, during Small Business Week, entrepreneurs descended on senators’ offices. They signed petitions, wrote letters and emails, even put up billboards.

What was all the fuss about? Small businesses were trying to help save open and equal access to the Internet. The Senate, in a bipartisan vote, tried to do its bit to save what is known as “net neutrality.” But, alas, the Internet as you knew it may die as soon as early this month.

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Do I sound alarmist? Well, bear with me. It’s because living in the heart of Silicon Valley but working with small businesses from coast to coast, I have a pretty good grasp of just how important an open, equal Internet is to small businesses and startups all over this country. You may think this is just a “techy” issue. But it’s not.

Net neutrality means companies that comprise the backbone of the Internet — Internet Service Providers, or ISPS — must treat all data the same. They can’t make deals with big companies to create a “fast lane,” where their data gets sent faster than other companies'. They can’t throttle a competitor’s data. Imagine if the electric company could choose to provide better electrical service to companies that paid them a hefty fee and spotty electricity to those that don’t. It would stifle competition from smaller companies and innovative entrepreneurs. That’s what the repeal of net neutrality is going to allow.

That’s why about a quarter of small businesses say net neutrality is very important to their business and just about half say it is important in a new survey conducted by the group Small Business Majority.

"Net neutrality is critical to America's small businesses,” said John Arensmeyer, CEO of Small Business Majority.

Repealing net neutrality "amounts to a tax on small businesses that they just can't afford,” said Evan Greer of Fight for the Future, an open-Internet advocacy group. “It allows the largest, most powerful companies to squash their competition by cutting competitive deals with big ISPs, who will become the gatekeepers of the free market, picking and choosing which businesses succeed and which ones fail.

"This doesn't just impact high tech businesses — in 2018 every business needs to be online. Every small business owner should be up in arms."

Now, remember, the Internet was built with taxpayer money. Without net neutrality, we will be handing over control to a handful of extremely large corporations — such as ATT, Comcast, Verizon, Charter — who have their own motivations to throttle competitors’ applications and websites. And they have virtual monopolies or duopolies in much of the U.S., resulting in Americans paying higher prices for slower Internet access than citizens of most other developed countries.

The end of net neutrality will definitely affect not only how much you pay for Internet access, but whether you’ll be able to sell your goods on the Internet and which programs you’ll be able to have access to (and how much you’ll pay) to help you run your business.

There is a glimmer of hope. Not on the federal level, but from the states. State legislators are gearing up to protect businesses and consumers by passing bills protecting net neutrality in their states. If such a bill is under consideration in your state, be sure to write your state representatives and governors to support it.

I explained all of this to an 84-year-old friend of mine, Cooky Capiaux, prompting her to remark:

“I thought this country was built on the idea of competition. What happened to that idea?”

Cooky understood what’s at stake in a nutshell. If an 84-year-old non-techie can understand this, why can’t Congress?

Rhonda Abrams is the author of Six-Week Start Up, just released in its fourth edition. Connect with her on Facebook, and Twitter through the handle @RhondaAbrams. Register for her free business tips newsletter at PlanningShop.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.