Net Neutrality The way the internet is works today is that everyone is connected to one another on the same level playing field. Same level playing field referring to a concept about fairness under which everyone plays by the same set of 'rules'. But a handful of phone and cable companies want to change all of that, they want to lock down parts of the web. And make sites pay more money for them to use it, while the rest of the sites get the 'slow lane'. How will they do that. By destroying on the Internets founding principles; net neutrality.
So let us start from the beginning. You connect to the web through a series of pipes owned by telephone and cable companies. The deal is they are not allowed to alter what is inside those pipes. Whether it is Yahoo or Google, everybody's website gets the same speed and quality. No matter who you are, or what service provider you use, your access to sites is exactly the same. This idea of fairness and security is what we refer to as net neutrality.
Well the problem is companies want to reserve a restricted 'fast lane' on the Internet. But only for their partners and services. Only sites that pay a substantial fee would be allowed to use it., making the companies gatekeepers. This would eliminate this concept of net neutrality. Big companies, for example AT and T and Bell, will use their power to control your internet connections by degrading or block access to other providers. The internet is known as “content that is streamed to the user when the user demands” [1] but is slowly losing that meaning as net neutrality becomes a more serious issue day after day. Internet providers could control what is seen, instead of allowing users to browse and share freely. In effect, also stopping the spread of knowledge from one person to another, which is key to human interaction. By stopping the spread of knowledge, service providers essentially relegate the internet to a kind of “second television”, where they control the message.
This leads me to question society’s right to freedom. Net neutrality eliminates the democratization of technology, because individuals will no longer be able to afford the information being disseminated over the Internet. Major media corporations become the leaders of our society, without considering the needs and wants of the citizens. Democracy is neglected in exchange for commerce and financial status. Hegemony is demonstrated accurately, as wealthy corporate giants and ISPs express their leadership by controlling the Internet.
It would appear though as the biggest concern here is money. In order to get business from the consumer, they would go as far blocking certain content. Forcing the consumer to bring their business straight to them. Companies love money in their pocket, greed is key Unfortunately, it would appear though as the folks at congress do not think this important to put this into law. So until then I'm going to enjoy my internet freedom.
* If you are still able to read this then net neutrality is still in effect.*
Work Cited
[1] Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down
Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin, 2004.
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