Net neutrality a key issue

On July 12, many companies participated in a Net Neutrality Day of Action. As a local IT professional, I strongly believe the role of government in the internet needs to be as limited as possible for our economy to reach its full potential. Since the internet’s earliest years, policies that encouraged unbridled innovation helped online businesses and technology companies prosper here in Las Vegas and across the country.

That is why I was alarmed when the Obama administration took the unprecedented step of regulating the internet as a public utility a couple of years ago. I think most Nevadans would agree that the internet is not just another utility service like the electric company, so it should not be treated like one. This move was implemented under the banner of net neutrality, but the misguided regulations were not needed to truly preserve an open internet. In my view, it was government overreach and micromanages the development of new technologies in a manner incompatible with the realities of the dynamic internet marketplace.

I am glad to see that the current Federal Communications Commission chairman is working to review these regulations and the potential harms caused by them — billions of dollars in lost investment according to some reports — but it’s now time for Nevada’s congressional delegation to act. What is really needed is legislation to settle this issue that will preserve net neutrality without the consequences of utility regulations once and for all. I know there are many issues facing our country, but this one should not be forgotten.

Leo Bletnisky, Las Vegas