Importance Of Net Neutrality
In the world that we live in today, the internet is used by more than half the population. It is nearly unheard of to have never touched the internet for anything. People depend on the internet for a wide range of things that either help complete a task, or help put food on the table for their families and loved ones. Since the internet holds so much value in terms of use and power, there are people who would want to limit how easy it would be to access certain sites and manipulate the speed and quality while browsing those sites. In turn, this would put money in the pockets of many and limit the use of the internet for others to varying degrees of quality depending on the social class of that person.
Net neutrality refers to the open internet order which states that all data that the internet provides should be treated equality. An easier way of breaking it down would be to say “Any ISP can provide the pipelines, but can’t control or have any say in what flows through those pipes” Net neutrality was put in place due to the accusation of certain ISP’s manipulating the internet speed and accessibility of certain websites. In 2015 the FCC the open internet order was put in place under the Obama administration. Most Republicans are against this and many times have tried to take away net neutrality or anything similar to it in the past. A prime example is S.O.P.A. (Stop Online Piracy Act). This was introduced into the United States House of Representatives in 2011. Many who supported this said it would be used to seek out court orders against websites that infringe on federal criminal intellectual-property laws. The people who were against it claimed, that it would allow the government to punish websites for the actions of the people who use their website and other services. It was also claimed that it could have negative effects on free speech that is commonly associated with the internet. Even though free speech is something that should never be limited in any form, it could be argued that the name of the law is what sparked such negative views on it
Net Neutrality is in place to prevent internet providers can’t charge people for internet speed or websites the company doesn’t favor. By getting rid of internet neutrality you limit how even the playing field is for people to be innovative. If two people from a rich background and a poor background but both need the internet to get on their feet it is pretty clear who's going to get the most out of it. It is also very important because it allows for everyone to have freedom of speech. Just like how companies would have the power to favor different websites, this would extend to websites that have something to say that a particular company may not like, such as organizing rallies, political events or other things that would be important to a specific group. If net neutrality is taken away it could spell bad news for a lot of low-income families or small businesses that rely on the internet. Slower internet means more time that it would take for two companies or people to get their point across on the internet compared to once again people who would have no problem paying for better internet speed. Kelly Smith makes a good point when she says, “ISPs could charge content providers, such as Netflix, extra money to ensure that its customers have a fast enough connection to stream content.” Even though the quality of service would go up, so would the prices as well.
The effects of getting rid of net neutrality could easily turn out differently depending on the person. In some cases, it could easily ensure the quality some specific things and give internet providers more money to produce secure connections. Some companies would even make some services free as an effect of removing net neutrality. An added source of income could easily make some services free. On the bad side, A lot of people would be restricted to whatever bubble they might have created around themselves. One of the people that would get hit the hardest is gamers. As a lot of people know video games have been becoming more and more popular and allowing for people to turn an enjoyable pastime into a job. Since it is becoming more and more intertwined with the internet, it is important to keep net neutrality in place. Wes Fenlon stated that “This isn't just an issue that activists care about. Even large interest companies like Google and Facebook support net neutrality legislation as the best path towards keeping the internet open, and the best way to prevent phone and cable companies from trampling all over their users”
Another argument that could be made is that net neutrality is destroying small ISPs. In a world where anyone can start a company or business. Everyone wants it to be just as easy for the new guy to get off the ground and get a decent start. When started in one of the headings of Jacob Kastrenakes’s article “SMALL ISPS LARGELY AREN’T OPPOSED TO NET NEUTRALITY’S CORE RULES, BUT SOME ARE WORRIED ABOUT ITS OTHER REQUIREMENTS” There are a lot of things that go into being an ISP. With net neutrality in place, people who support having it removed say that this would cost smaller ISP a lot more money to keep it running.
