Gigi Sohn Quotes on Internet (7 Quotes)

Think of the cable system. You as a consumer have no control over what channels the cable operator picks. They pick certain channels based on where they have a financial interest. Time Warner favors the programming in which it has financial interest. We're concerned that the cable model will essentially be grafted onto the InterNet.

We are disappointed but not surprised that the committee voted to turn over the future of the Internet to the telephone and cable industry. Neither of those two sectors contributed to the creative development of the Internet, and neither is known for innovation. They are known for their desire to control what goes over their networks.

The subcommittee missed an opportunity to maintain the free and open Internet that we have come to value over the years. The amendment ... would have set fair and reasonable boundaries on the conduct of telephone and cable companies which now will have control over the Internet, while guaranteeing the rights of consumers.

The future of the free, open and innovative Internet we have all enjoyed through the years is not guaranteed. If the bill before the House Commerce Committee gives control of the Internet to the telephone and cable companies, the Internet we have come to appreciate could well cease to exist, and it will be almost impossible to get it back.

Basically this merger will mean even less competition for broadband Internet, and frankly that makes a Net neutrality requirement even more imperative. If there was real competition in the provision of high-speed Internet access we might not be having this conversation, but now the world has gotten even smaller than it was before.

They're just two different visions of the Internet. I see the Internet as something that gives people the power, for the first time ever, to have a megaphone. These guys want to make a closed system.

It is vitally important that the Internet remains open and accessible to consumers and to service providers and remains the source of innovation it has been over the past two decades.