Speakers, large and small, rely on the openness of the Internet to speak easily, inexpensively, and without significant restriction or limitations on the form or content of the speech. Second, these barriers to entry are identical for both speakers and listeners. Third, as a result of these low barriers, astoundingly diverse content is available on the Internet. Fourth, the Internet provides significant access to all who wish to speak in the medium, and even creates a relative parity among speakers. Internet users have a wide range of choices as to how to access the Internet and what to do with the communications medium once online.
Users can speak to the entire world with little or no investment.
In short, the Internet offers individuals, communities, non-profit organizations, companies, and governments an unprecedented ability to speak and be heard. The paper then offers specific steps that companies and the Internet industry can take to ensure that the openness of the Internet will continue with broadband technology. In the narrowband world, Internet users are generally free to use their Internet connections to access any part of the Internet and to run any Internet-related application, so long as such use does not harm the operations of the network or the use of the Internet by others. This increases the risk that a facility owner might impose restrictions for anticompetitive reasons. Internet users should be able to use their Internet connection to access any part of the Internet and to run any Internet-related application, so long as such use does not harm the operations of the network or the use of the Internet by others.