What is net neutrality?
Net neutrality is the fair treatment of all data on the internet. Neither the government nor the internet service providers can give special treatment or discriminate against certain websites and services in any way. Examples of actions that would violate the principle of net neutrality are creating internet packages that exclude certain websites, and manipulating traffic towards competitor websites.
Why is it an issue?
Net neutrality allows for complete freedom to use the internet and access the variety of websites and content that can be found. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is looking to eliminate this principle to deregulate the internet and therefore, allow internet service providers to compete against one another to provide the best internet package possible. While it may be beneficial for providers, many people are against the removal of net neutrality raising concerns regarding internet usage freedoms and potential pricing issues.
What happens if net neutrality is removed?
In general, internet service providers have more freedom to shape their products as they’d like. As of now, they are required to allow access to every site on the internet and treat all content equally. The removal of net neutrality will allow internet service providers to be flexible when offering their internet packages, meaning that internet service providers can now pick and choose which content to prioritize or discriminate against, (ie. Control the connection speed to certain websites) and exclude certain websites in their packages, forcing customers to “upgrade” if they would like to access more content. Such packages will be like the television service packages we see today. Below is an example of what an internet package would look like. (Image created by BitTorrent)
If I’m against the elimination of net neutrality, what can I do?
Have your voice heard. You can contact Congress and explain to them why you are against the removal of net neutrality. One website I’ve seen that tries to help people with this is http://battleforthenet.com which assists people with sending an email to Congress and calling them as well.
The FCC plans to vote on the fate of net neutrality laws on December 14 so there is still time to convince them to not proceed with their decision.