jake olsen

I wrote this a couple weeks ago. Gordon Smith doesn’t like me.

Mr. Smith,

I am a co-founder of Platial.com, an Internet start-up company, and I wanted you to know that I was extremely discouraged to see your vote against Net Neutrality. I will not guess as to why you voted against the bill, but I will let you know how this affects our business and other small businesses like me.

Entrepreneurship on the Internet has now taken a step back. Access to information was never a barrier to entry as it will become. The US government has created a new competitive advantage for those companies that can afford to pay.

In our business, we connect with many 3rd party services, some large companies, some small. If those organizations cannot afford to pay higher prices, we will no longer be able to provide the quality of service to our customers, we may even lose some of the services we provide.

Personally, I am saddened to see that my access to information will be throttled and limited… to know and understand that my children will not have the same access to information.

Here was a chance to do something right, and you didn’t do it.

I encourage you to support Net Neutrality in your future votes. I have hope with some encouragement, you will make the right decision.

–jake olsen
co-founder & CTO, Platial.com