Issue 538 Who owns the internet? March 2, 2015

Who really owns the internet?  Only two groups actually do.  And you can actually name them very easily.  Can't figure it out?  It is the companies that sell access and us the regular people.  Let us discuss.

What the companies do:  The companies serve a single roll with the internet. It is to sell access to the whole thing.  So that internet bill every month is just us paying to get on.  Everything else is literally free.  These companies have no need to do anything else with respect to internet access as that would actually hinder their businesses.  Yes, certain websites are charged more to access the internet, but that is because they use up more space for data.  So they essentially are causing congestion on the internet which means they are technically being punished by the service providers for inhibiting everyone else using the internet.  But that is only the case for businesses.  People just pay for access as well, but otherwise they can do whatever they want.

The regular users:  This is us, the regular people who use the net each and every day.  We provide content, use services that are almost universally free, and otherwise do work and play on the internet.  Nothing is actually impeding us from doing whatever we want on the internet.  All we do is pay a small bill that is only going to become cheaper so that we can use a modem, and even that is becoming cheaper and possibly at some point actually free.  You see without us using the internet almost constantly, the internet would not be such a lucrative business opportunity for companies to sell goods and services (whether they be free or not (think advertising)).  As such, without us, the continued existence of the net with its ability to share information and content for free would not exist.

Conclusion:  So the companies that sell access and attempt to prevent clutter, and us, the consumers of services and content are the true owners of the net.  Without each other, the internet could not prosper or evolve into the sensation and tool that we all enjoy.  The internet is only going to become better and freer with each passing year, and you know what?  You helped make that possible by you simply using the internet.