Travis Good

For our capitalism to work, we need neutrality.

Our form of capitalism is particularly good at giving new ideas a chance to succeed. Any one with the smarts, drive, and opportunity has a chance to make it big. This fact has fueled our economic engine for over a century and has drawn people from around the world to our shores. This is a big part of what makes us Americans.

Much like equal access to electricity or equal access to telephony before it, equal access to broadband will be fundamentally important to entrepreneurs. It is the plumbing of the information age. If by default the big incumbent players in any industry have preferential broadband treatment then the innovators with far less resources will be at an impossible disadvantage. Our form of capitalism will fail to work and we will grow increasingly uncompetitive.

I've worked with and in many start-ups. Without exception, success was difficult if not impossible due strictly to the challenges of bringing new ideas to market. And that was WITH network neutrality. Failure rates will be impossibly high, much to the delight of incumbent old-school businesses, if entrepreneurs have the balance of access tipped away from them.

For our capitalism to work properly and for entrepreneurs to succeed in their ventures, we need network neutrality. Let's not make a mistake and ruin our way of life.

Regards, Travis