Blog 8: EOTO Presentation #2: Net Neutrality

 Net Neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites. The rise of the internet and its services was a surprise to everyone, as it happened so fast. Internet Service Providers like Verizon and AT&T, T-Mobile etc. all took opportunities of the growing internet by adding potential offerings for internet service. But without Net Neutrality, these large companies make it unfair for the consumers. They could control what you see, what websites you can visit, and even control the speed your internet is at. Because of this control, They punish the consumers of low-payment plans by slowing the internet and/or restricting access, in hopes of persuading them into buying the “better and faster plan”. So why don’t we have Net Neutrality? We did at one point, until it was taken away from us only after a year and a half of activity.

History of Net Neutrality

After companies such as Comcast and AT&T constantly violated FCC rights back in the 2000s, the FCC pushed for a way that these companies couldn’t get away from their violations. The FCC has been failed by the federal courts in their countless cases by either dismissing them or even had the FCC sued for “pushing boundaries”. It was not until February 26, 2015, when the FCC passed a sweeping net neutrality order. Internet peace and fairness was finally happening, until it wasn’t. In April 2017, newly appointed Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai announced a plan to reverse the 2015 net neutrality order, in which his plan succeeded. What I find hilariously biased and ironic is that when the first net neutrality
order was pushed in 2015, comedian John Oliver went on his show and encouraged his viewers to go to the FCC website and comment your thoughts on the new policy. The website shut down only hours after John Oliver’s show went off the air, due to the 21.9 million comments it received, with the majority of them showing and expressing their satisfaction for the net neutrality order. Fast forward to the 2017 reversal of the net neutrality order, and the FCC website gets shut down again. The reason was the same, as the website received a plethora of comments, this time expressing satisfaction that the net neutrality order was gone, and how bad it was for when it once was a policy. How could the people switch up on the idea around new neutrality so quickly? Well they didn’t, as it was later discovered that those comments weren’t made by people, but instead bots. This just shows how there always is a sneaky agenda to what these companies are doing.

Why Net Neutrality is Important

Net Neutrality is important for many reasons, as it provides a safe and fair environment for exploring the internet. Net Neutrality keeps the internet free and open, enabling anyone to share and access information of their choosing without interference. That was the internet’s fundamental purpose, to be free and accessible to everyone. Without Net Neutrality, Internet Service Providers could block speech and prevent dissident voices from speaking freely online. We currently see this happen everywhere on the internet, as it is just another way the people get censored online. A reason of importance that is rarely considered is that if companies like Verizon or Comcast pick favorites online (which they already do), new companies and technologies might never have the chance to grow. For example, if these big companies restricted and did not allow video streaming on their plans back in the 2000s, applications such as Netflix, Hulu and even YouTube would not exist to this day.