Now that the #netneutrality vote has happened, here are my rules as a #consumer and #Customer that I will use to decide who gets my dollar bills.
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1>$ I will be subscribing to the services and providers who voluntarily maintain the closest model of #netneutrality.
If @Comcast starts charging for prioritized services, I will not only opt for the cheapest and most basic plan possible...
2>$ ...I will move to any other #ISP that maintains fair and open access. I will move to a new neighborhood if I must.
I can go back to cellular or satellite internet, or 1995-style #dialup if it means supporting fair and open access providers. 96kb #ISDN? I'm lovin it.
3>$ If #cellular providers like @JohnLegere & @Tmobile or AT&T start charging fees for priority access, I will move to the one that doesn't, or I will buy the most basic flip phone faster than you can say "The #StarTac is still my favorite phone in cellular history."
4>$ If content corps like @NetFlix or @Hulu or @Amazon start charging extra fees for quality or speed, I will drop subscriptions faster than you can say "Nice #DVD collection!"
Watching Internet TV and content, at home and on the go, is a luxury, a convenience.
5>$ Listening to streaming music is a convenience, a nicety that I use because it's available.
I grew up using #tape and #CD. #MP3 players were AMAZING for portability. Moving it all online is a nice to have.
I can go back to MP3s and DVDs I load to an #ipod. I dig that.
6>$ I will love feeling a disc go into the drive again. I will enjoy having only an #ipod loaded with offline content I decide carefully upon. I will relish the additional #Kindle reading time I gain from not browsing #socialmedia or bopping around on music and video sites.
7>$ If #socialmedia services start charging for speed, function, or anything that requires me to pay to use it, I will retire my accounts.
They are also a convenience. I tweet for fun, not for income or profit. If you move to "pay to play" I'll be walking away.
8>$ If providers start charging extra for business related services, like a #VPN package, where my work is negatively impacted without it?
I will actively relocate, both online and physically, to wherever and whomever remains neutral, fair, and open.
9>$ To the #Tech companies who were largely silent as the day of the vote arrived, presumably because you were busy negotiating deals before the gavel went down...
I see you. I will take my business to manufacturers, software makers, vendors, anyone who supports open access.
10>$ If a #laptop manufacturer shows that they support #netneutrality I will make it a point to buy their laptop next instead of a manufacturer that doesn't. Software, hardware, webhosting... this will be a daily evaluation of choice, and what my dollars say for me.
11>$ Now, if I end up dropping a bunch of niceties, these luxuries and conveniences, I'll have some extra cash in my pocket every month.
Which I will be giving to the @ACLU and @EFF. Every dollar that would go to a package fee, a priority subscription, will go to them instead.
12>$ I'll probably end up with some more free time on my hands, too, instead of endlessly scrolling through #socialmedia or streaming video choices.
So I'll use that time to call Congress, the FTC, the FCC, trade groups, customer feedback lines...
13>$ When the tech industry says “The FCC’s action harms start-ups, small companies, and businesses generally” , this is what they meant.
Consumers charged more, for the same or less, will be more selective about what they spend on.
14>$ The FCC failed to listen to the people today,
I'm fortunate that @GovInslee and the @WAStateGov support #NetNeutrality. I as a citizen will do everything I can to support their efforts in protecting against and reversing this mistake of Gaussian proportions.