Should we have free access to the internet?

In the past few weeks there has been a lot of public noise about the fact that there is something wrong when one or two companies control access to the Internet. Something is especially wrong when one of those companies tries to make too much money. Which I find quite frankly rather strange coming from the people who say that government should not regulate businesses -  that the market will find its own level. Guess that is only true when you are the one making the money.

The way I understand is.... Imagine someone building a road - perhaps a road to their cottage. They used their own money and continue to maintain it including plowing it and on occasion widening it. Some other people build cottages on the lake and want to use  the road. The owner says sure - pay me $10.00 but you can only use it 10 times a year. I don't want it to get too busy.

Then some other folks come by and they too want to use the road - but they are building condos. And they want the new condo owners to be able to use the road as often as they want to. The road owner says no - if they are going to use it more often than the other people they are going to have to pay more.

The government steps and says - sorry you have to let the condo owners use it as often as they want - otherwise it is not fair to them. Personally I would drop some trees across the road and say that no one could use it.

The people that are complaining about perhaps having to pay more are not the occasional users but rather those who download (read steal) movies and music or those who play games on line. They joined the smaller companies because they could download a lot more at a fixed price.  I can understand why they don't want to pay more - who does? But if you use something more than I do - you should pay more.

There is another solution. If the Canadian government believes that access to the Internet at a reasonable price (or even better for free) is a right and it is good for the economy (although why stealing movies and playing on line games is good for the country is beyond me) - then nationalize the system. And then use taxpayer's money to maintain it. Socialize the Internet - that has a nice ring to it. The we would all have equal access and we would all pay for it.

While I would love for private companies such as Bell to put me first - and their investors second - it ain't going to happen. We can't expect private companies to subsidize our fun. Mr. Harper you lack the expertise to mess around with system - so either nationalize the Internet or let free market have its way with us.