PENN YAN -- Democratic congressional candidate Tracy Mitrano says the internet neutrality bill currently before Congress would help meet a critical need in New York’s 23rd Congressional District.
“It says government should have the funds to bring broadband internet out to rural areas like ours,” Mitrano said.
The 23rd Congressional District spans the southern tier of New York from Chautauqua County on the west to Tioga County on the east.
Mitrano, an expert in cybersecurity policy, says the bill would prohibit telecommunications companies from interfering with information that goes through their systems, “either by doing something with the content itself or the speeds at which the information goes out. That would mean they can’t take the information that goes through their pipelines or personally identify us.”
The alternative measure favored by Republicans would give telecommunications companies license to favor certain customers, to slow down transmission speeds for others, to use information transmitted through their systems.
“They advertise it as being about freedom, but freedom for whom? For the companies, not for us! They could do whatever they want. That’s exactly what net neutrality would keep them from doing,” says Mitrano.
“All we’re asking is to apply the same rules to the internet that we’ve had for telephone communication and text for decades.”
Mitrano invites questions, comments and debates about net neutrality on Facebook.
