The United States under the Trump Administration has not been receiving the kindest feedback as of late. Recently, the Administration reversed the ban on the importation of elephant trophies from countries where the animal can legally be hunted. A law that, ultimately, promotes the hunting of an endangered species. The Administration is also under fire for proposing a tax plan that will require college grad students to pay taxes on their tuition support, on top of the taxes they are currently paying for their stipends. The latest push to repeal current net neutrality laws, however, is the most concerning issue yet.
A major reason this is even a concern is because many people are not properly informed on what net neutrality is. Heck, I didn't fully grasp the concept until I learned about it in my Mass Media Law course. In this article, I will go over the importance of net neutrality and what you, my fellow internet lover, can do about it.
Currently, the net neutrality rules in place make it so that websites, like streaming services, can't pay ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to make their data delivery faster than their competitors. The rules also prevent these sites from throttling, meaning that they cannot slow down or speed up the data delivery for users based on how much they pay for the service. Limits, then, are only placed on the amount of content that users can access. This seems fair, right? You can use any site you like, at the same speed as anyone else, and only have to pay for premium content at your discretion. For example, you may have Netflix and Hulu because Netflix provides shows that Hulu doesn't and vice versa. However, if these rules were to be repealed, Netflix could pay more money to the ISPs to make loading speeds significantly faster than Hulu, which gives the service a reason to charge you more and vary their speeds depending on how much you pay to use Netflix. For a visual representation, check out this short video:
Ajit Pai, the new Federal Communication Commission chairman appointed by President Trump, has stated that with the current rules in place "companies cannot experiment with new business models that could help them compete with online businesses like Netflix, Google and Facebook." What Mr. Pai fails to mention is the key ingredient needed to create those competitive business models: money.
After reading this, I hope that you're ready to take action. If so, great! Here's how you can do it:
- Attend a protest: Before attempting to make the internet a wealthy man's game, Mr. Pai was a top lawyer for Verizon, one of the main advocates for destroying net neutrality. To make your voice loud and clear, join a protest on December 7th outside of a Verizon store. There will be a couple going on in the Orlando area at the following locations:
-- Orlando's Verizon store near the University of Central Florida. 11325 University Blvd, Orlando, FL 32817 Orlando 32817
-- Altamonte Mall Verizon. 451 E Altamonte Drive Altamonte Springs FL 32701
- You can also call Congress before the FCC votes on December 14th. Visit https://www.battleforthenet.com/#bftn-action-form to receive a suggested script of how to address your congressmen about the issue.
Now is the time to make your voice heard. If you love the internet and don't want its integrity ripped away from it, take action before the FCC's December 14th vote.
