As a young owner of a small business -- a New York-based startup company called onebluebrick -- I rely on an open Internet, and I’ve experienced firsthand what will happen if Net Neutrality is not preserved.

onebluebrick is currently working on a mobile tool that utilizes SMS – or text messaging. In order to send text messages to our users, we have to go through the mobile carriers –the same companies that provide access to the Internet in your home and office.

The approval process is long and complex, and there are many charges along the way. Once your application has been accepted, you must pay fees to send your users SMS messages. Users not only pay to receive those messages, but also to send messages back to you.

This is what is known as “pay to play,” and it harms innovation. The carriers sit in the middle and make money off every transaction. The cost of these messages is artificially high because the carriers maintain a tight grip over what travels across the network. Accordingly, innovation in the mobile messaging space has stagnated.

If we don’t pass the law protecting Net Neutrality, I fear every business will have to “pay to play” on the Internet as well – slowing innovation and stifling the industry.

I’m a young entrepreneur, and the Internet’s open platform has given me and millions of other people the opportunity to create new businesses that put people to work. The Internet has shaped my generation, and in return, we have helped to shape the Internet. We have changed the way people communicate, find information, learn new skills, and even change the world.

Without strong Net Neutrality protections, we risk harming our generation and all those that will precede us. I know my business would never have gotten off the ground in a closed Internet environment.

Net Neutrality is pro-business, and I’m asking the FCC and Congress to support it.

This is a guest blog post from Matthew Rosenberg, interactive strategist and a founder of onebluebrick.