Economies do best when there is a variety of players in a given marketplace, which is why the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning cable companies and Internet access is so unfortunate. While the court interpreted existing law correctly, the outcome is to allow cable companies to exclude other Internet service providers from using their systems, thereby potentially killing off the 7,000 independent Internet service providers in this country. As one of those IISPs, I want to ask you to help reestablish a level playing field for our business and open the cable networks so we can continue to employ 75,000 people and service 7 million customers.

Businesses like mine work very closely with our customers and provide unparalelled service. By creating a diverse set of choices, we help make sure competition maintains an efficient marketplace.

The IISPs in this country are also a vital resource in their communities, large and small. Not only do we pay taxes, but the money we earn and pay in wages is spent right in those communities, keeping their economies vibrant. Cable companies -- and the telephone companies that will soon be seeking the same advantage -- are corporations that take wealth from the community and send their profits out of town. In addition, my small business serves many other small businesses, so if I disappear because of an unfortunate court case, those other businesses will have difficulty as well. We all know that small businesses create the jobs in this country, so the net effect can be very serious indeed.

With the large corporations gaining near monopoly powers, and mergers making fewer of those large providers all the time, there is also an increasing risk that communities will lose control over their own opportunities. If a large corporation providing broadband access can exclude content on its network, it might limit news or commerce or any other kind of information that consumers and voters would need to make their own decisions. We all believe that communities and individuals can best decide their fates, so it is contrary to allow a system that takes that power away from them.

Surely those large companies deserve reward for the network investments they've made. An open network would certainly allow them to compete on content while they charge market rents from those who wish to use their network. I wouldn't suggest the government take value from anyone, just that it not allow them monopoly control that can be so deleterious to other players in the market and to consumers.

When the Internet was young, it was the IISPs who jumped onto open telephone networks to make Internet access widely available. We reached into every market we could find and continue to do so. President Bush said he wants broadband to be similarly available by 2007. Yet large corporations are not well positioned to provide that because their shareholders will demand that they go for the high-margin customers. The poor or those living in rural communities will be left behind and suffer the lack of the most efficient tool there is to help them create new opportunities and make new careers and businesses. IISPs would be able and happy to extend broadband to these forgotten markets, but closed networks would prevent us from doing this. For the sake of the President's plans, I would hope you would help us open the broadband networks.

The Internet is ever changing and advancing, but the changes are hard to follow for many consumers. IISPs are the vanguard of that change and so often help the community understand new opportunities. Similarly, IISPs are often the innovators when it comes to issues of security, which is why they are often hired by government experts to handle such issues.

Large companies are not well suited to handle security risks. Sure, they have resources, but they are also large targets and cannot possibly watch all their own traffic. Smaller providers like me know our customers intimately so we'll see dangerous traffic before it turns foul. If it gets past our systems, at least there will be only a few users affected before we can shut down the threat; other networks will see our example and the national network will be able to respond. If there are only a few providers, some small errors can do extensive damage.

In short, there are many ways the court's decision works against the interests of our nation. Certainly I have a vested interest, but in the ways I describe above you can see that a diverse market is best and safest for the consumer and other businesses. I don't ask for handouts or special privileges, only that you use your authority and your regulatory oversight to ensure that all Internet service providers have a fair chance to compete in this important space.

Contact information:

http://www.ii4a.org, email: isps@ii4a.org or phone 813-496-2122