Letters & opinions
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Net neutrality: who wins?
Hannah Jane Parkinson (“Life in the slow lane, February), writes: “If ISPs can control how fast or slow content reaches us, then big companies such as Amazon and Netflix might end up paying them to get into the fast lane. This… will hurt start-ups and small companies that can’t foot that bill.”
So the internet giants say; they claim to oppose a levy for the sake of the little guys. But the infrastructure owners know where the big bucks are to be made, and it’s not from small fry, but from the giants. Right now the big four have their cake and eat it. They base themselves in tax havens, hire the best lobbyists, and ensure that nation states (where they pay negligible taxes) guarantee them equal access to communications infrastructure at no cost. This is at the expense of national infrastructure owners, who pay taxes since they have physical assets in the countries where they operate.
The biggest threat the giants face is competition with national equivalents, including internet carriers. In China, which brooks none of this nonsense, this has already affected their dominance.