There’s a big push right now to get the government to regulate the internet in order to preserve “net neutrality” among various internet providers. The internet is one of the few truly free remaining places on the planet today. Does the internet really need the government to regulate it? Glenn explains why the push for Net Neutrality matters.
WATCH:
Below is a rough transcript of this segment:
Glenn: Let me tell you about net neutrality. Net neutrality is a -- is the global warming of the Internet. They are saying that they need to level the playing field of the Internet and make it free. Let me tell you something. If it wasn't for the freedom of the Internet, this world and this country would be screwed right now. The only real growth that we have in the world, and you're seeing it in television and news and information. The only place you're truly free to say whatever you want, to produce whatever you want, to get it out -- man has never had a voice like he has right now. And it's all due to the Internet. And due to the fact that the government is not involved in it at all. It's working pretty well. Do I dislike buffering speeds? Yes. Am I company that should be on the other side? Probably. And here's why. These giant corporations like Comcast and Google and all these other companies, all they have to do if they want to shut people like me down is they choke down my -- my speeds. They choke down. If you -- because I'm a video provider, if they want to put me out of business, they just choke down and make it impossible to watch. Last night I was at home. I was trying to watch something -- I was trying to watch studio C with the kids and we watch it online. We just don't watch TV anymore. And I was watching online and I was on Roku and the speed was really low yesterday for some reason. It just kept stopping and starting and then stopping and then starting and buffering. Ask enough, I'm not going to watch it tonight. We did something else. That's exactly how these giant Internet providers can put people like me out of business. I don't want to go out of business. So shouldn't I saying, yes, government, because I'm somebody who's going to be targeted. I know it. Shouldn't -- shouldn't I saying, yes, government, please protect me. Oh, protect me? No. Because the government is only going to protect those who are playing ball with the government. And trust me, here is why Internet neutrality is happening. Twofold. One, political reasons. What was it that the diversity czar at the FCC said about the important revolution in Venezuela? As soon as -- as soon as Castro -- not Castro.
PAT: Chavez.
GLENN: As soon as Chavez knew that he had control of the television and radio stations, that important revolution could happen. So that's why you have a socialist Marxist at the FCC But the radio and television is over as we know it. It's just over. It's all online. So how do they get their grubby hands into it? They got their grubby hands into it the first place because they said, oh, there's only so much band space. There's only so much band width. The frequencies, the air belongs to the people. And so that's how they got into broadcast. Now they're saying, well, there's only so much band width. There's only -- really? Because I remember -- there was only so much band width. It gets better and better and better. From 1G to 2G to 4G to 16G to 375G. It's coming. It will get better, cheaper, faster. Everyone will be able to do this. It is only a matter of time.
PAT: It's already done that in such a short time.
GLENN: Correct. So what are they panicking about? One, it's about control. But the more insidious one, and we just had a meeting about this this morning, because I've got -- a lot of people from New York and from all over the country, from TheBlaze, because we're having some intensive meetings this week here on the future of our company. And so this morning about 7:00, we had a meeting. And I explained the future of the company. And I explained the future of the world in communications. And the way that Facebook is talk radio and the telephone. And I want to you listen to this. The telephone used to be one-to-one communication. I could reach out anywhere and call someone and get them one to one. But it was a device and I had to go through AT&T and everything else. Then you had talk radio. And I could listen to other people's conversations and I could listen to what they were talking about, about the news and everything else, and I could join in on that conversation. If I could get them to pick up the phone, they could screen me and then I could be part of it. What Facebook is you have that private one-on-one conversation when you want it, but you also are allowed to go in and jump into anybody else's conversation as well. So it's both the telephone and talk radio. It's a utility. It's a public utility. Maybe we should have the government run Facebook. It's a public utility. Just like the phones are. Just like radio is. It's a public utility. Don't think they won't make that. And if you think that the government will make Facebook better, what, are you 4? Now, because Facebook and the Internet is going to change everything, and I have -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- Pat and Stu, if I would have said that the guys who have been sitting in my office over the last three months would even accept an appointment from me two years ago, let alone take -- get on their private jets, fly to me, come to my place of business, wait for an appointment in our lobby, and then come and sit down on the couch in my office and say, okay, do you have any ideas? We need some help. Would you have believed --
STU: No.
GLENN: They wouldn't even would have taken a meeting with me if I would have called them two years ago.
STU: Right.
GLENN: That doesn't show how cool we are. That shows how desperate they are. Okay? Why are they desperate? These giant media moguls are desperate because they know. And they all say in private conversations, every single one of them say the same thing to me. Glenn, most of the people in my own company don't even get it. It's over. It's over. They don't understand the colossal change that has coming. I know. I know. So what do we do? Here's what the big companies are going to. The Comcasts of the world. And this will happen in every single -- this will happen in the accounting. This will happen in cab drivers, truck drivers. This will happen in -- with doctors and especially universities. All of them. All of them will go the government and say, you need to protect us. You need to protect us. You need to prop us up. You got to put a gate here. So who wants that gate on the Internet? I'll tell you who wants the gate on the Internet. Comcast wants a gate on the Internet. Anybody who is a provider -- and quite honestly, I will tell you the truth. Again, a gate on the Internet actually helps me if I want to go into television. Because it stabilizes things. The meeting that I had at 7:00 this morning was, can anybody tell me what the world looks like? In five years? In 10 years? Anybody? Nope.
We just know you're going to have entertainment and information. We don't know how you're going to get it. Most importantly, we don't have any idea how to make money off of it. Now, when we say make money off of it, we're trying to innovate so we're just trying to make money to pay the bills so we can better stuff. But there are those people -- they don't give a flying rat's butt about anything. They built their systems years ago.
STU: Does the rat's butt fly? Is that what happens?
PAT: Only the butt does. The rest of the rat does not.
GLENN: So nobody cares. They've built their systems long ago. Do you think NBC cares about, we got to get every dollar for innovation? No, we want every dollar because we want every dollar. We're making money. We paid for all this stuff. Don't let this stuff go away. What they're doing is they're going and they're asking for net neutrality to stop innovation, to be able to put the gates up. Because you know who I'm afraid of? You know who I'm afraid of? And I've said this to my own staff and my own company and all of the vice presidents will be hearing this from me over the next year. I don't want to hear -- I'm 50. I don't want to hear any of your 50-year-old ideas. I don't want to hear them. Can we get some 18-year-olds in here? I want to talk to some 20-year-olds. Really responsible 20-year-olds. Now, I want to hear the 50-year-old ideas. I want to hear your ideas on how to clear the bull crap out of their life. Clear the runway for them. Make sure legally everything is buttoned up. Make sure that we're holding everything together and we're treating people right and we're running a good, decent company with good moral sense. But I want you to clear the runway for the 20-year-olds because the 20-year-olds think differently. They don't even think like we do anymore. They see the future in a completely different way. Go ahead. You know what it is? It's like talking to you and me about race and then going and having a conversation with Al Sharpton and Chris Matthews. It's not -- nothing against them. They just are 20 years older than we are. They see the world differently. When I say, I don't see race, they can't even imagine that. They don't --
STU: It's all the same.
GLENN: That's all they see. And it's because they grew up in that 1960s world and they stopped thinking. They -- they cast what the world is, and that's just what it is. You have to stop doing that. That's when you get old and die, is when you just cast the world and say, this is what it is. The world is going to change. And that's why the 20-somethings, they see things completely differently. You talk to them about race, they really think it's crazy. Talk about politics to 20-somethings? What? Why? Why would I do that? Why? That doesn't even make any sense. They don't have any restrictions, just like the Internet. It has no limitations. It used to be, you know, I just got this -- this is D-magazine. They brought this in and this is an article on me, the new Glenn Beck. And I -- I opened it up and I put it down and I looked at Pat and I said, you know what, Pat? Do you remember when being in a magazine used to mean something? It used to mean something. Why? Now that same article is online, but it doesn't mean as much. Why? Two reasons. One, it's not tangible. Okay. It's not something you pick up. You have to go find on a store shelf someplace. So it's someplace third party. Look at that. It's right there and it's at the checkout stand and it's a big deal. And it's tangible. And there are what, 300 pages in this magazine. Limited space. Do you know why articles and shows and everything else don't matter? Because it's unlimited. I can watch every episode of the "Twilight Zone," followed by every episode of "Seinfeld," followed by every episode of "Continuum," and then I can watch the old Sherlock Holmes, the brand-new BBC Sherlock Holmes, and I can do it all in a day and I haven't spent any money. All do I, I'm going to download it. It's unlimited. So that devalues everything. And that's what got everybody freaked out. They want control and they want their money. Don't listen to anyone who says net neutrality is a good thing. I have everything to gain by standing with the people who want net neutrality. I'm telling you, it's bad for you.
PAT: And the one question I would ask these people and the president among the rest is why? Why are you doing this? Because he keeps saying, he wants it free and accessible. It already is. It can't get any more free and it can't get any more accessible than it is -- it's like saying that I want chocolate to remain delicious and accessible. It already is. Why are you going to change it? It's like saying, I want the interstate freeway system to remain accessible to all. Well, it's already -- who's telling me what lanes I can get on? Who's telling me unless there's an HOV lane. Unless --
GLENN: Unless the government says --
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: I want --
(overlapping speakers).
PAT: A problem now so don't create one. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to create a problem.
GLENN: And -- I want to take this one a step further. The buffering ad that they ran where they put the phony buffering in.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: That goes right back to the other guy who's talking about health care. The people are stupid.
PAT: Yeah.
GLENN: They're lying to you again and listen to what they were saying about how stupid you were on health care. Don't be stupid again. Don't do it.
MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images
David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images