Obama and Romney need to weigh in on network neutrality

[Commentary] Within a few months of Inauguration Day, the next president will need to decide on how to deal with serious risks to the Internet’s innovation machine. If it goes the wrong way, online startups could be threatened and users could be in for less high-quality content on the Web. Clearly, that would be a downer, but it would also have significant financial implications, as the online sector powers economic growth with investment dollars. By 2016, US e-commerce retail sales will reach $362 billion dollars, and that's only a fraction of the value of the Web. This value is threatened if network neutrality protections, which ensure that all users are treated equally by their Internet Service Providers, are allowed to lapse. But with the information provided thus far, voters have an incomplete picture of how the candidates will handle upcoming challenges to such a profitable sector.

Going forward, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney should offer a much clearer road map. The next president will wield enormous power over the future of the Internet through his choices for FCC appointments, his veto power, and his ability to make his case to Congress and the public. With such a huge and important sector of the national economy at stake, Obama and Romney should be forced to state their positions in more detail, giving the American people a clear choice on the future of the Internet.