Some of you may have heard of the term 'net neutrality' before, and others may have not. Before we get into why net neutrality is important, we must first define net neutrality. Merriam-Webster defines net neutrality as the idea, principle, or requirement that Internet service providers should or must treat all Internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination.
Merriam-Webster also defines internet service provider as a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet and that may also provide other Internet-related services (such as e-mail accounts).
Net neutrality is a complex issue. However, the boiled down version is that net neutrality prevents internet service providers from interfering with a users experience when using the internet. Internet service providers cannot choose to slow down or block any website for any reason.
Without net neutrality, internet service providers could speed up or slow down websites based on incentives they get. For example, Netflix could pay Verizon to slow down competing services like Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. Similarly, without net neutrality, if an internet service provider offering a particular service, they could choose to completely block competitors websites.
The internet was invented in the United States. However, the United States is ranked 28th in the world for internet speeds. South Korea ranks number one in the world for internet speeds. South Korea understands that unrestricted access to the internet is a right and not a privilege.
Not just in South Korea, but in many countries around the world, there is no such thing as buffering. Internet speeds are good enough that people don't experience buffering. Anyone who has traveled overseas has most likely experienced this firsthand.
Internet service providers in the United States claim that they can not give us the internet speeds we deserve without getting rid of net neutrality. However, we know this is not true. We have seen Google set up Google Fiber in several cities across the countries. Google Fiber provides truly lightning fast internet speeds where buffering becomes a thing of the past.
If Google can do this with net neutrality in place then why can't the major internet service providers do it? They can do it, but they don't want to do it.
The Communications Act of 1934 is the major legislation which regulates all nongovernmental wire and wireless telecommunication. As part of this act, the Federal Communications Commision (FCC) was created. According to AllGov.com,
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent government agency responsible for regulating the radio, television and phone industries. Ajit Pai, the current chairman of the FCC, who was recently reconfirmed as FCC chairman, is in favor of completely getting rid of net neutrality. Ajit Pai, who is a lawyer that formerly worked for Verizon, one of the largest internet service providers, says that if we got rid of net neutrality, we could trust internet service providers to essentially voluntarily uphold net neutrality.
It does not make sense to get rid of net neutrality, which serves the public interest, to hope that internet service providers will choose to uphold it. It is quite likely that if net neutrality was abolished, internet service providers would stop serving the public interest, and that they would begin to game the system for their benefit.
If you like that internet service providers cannot choose to slow down or block individual websites, then we need to keep net neutrality in place. If we were to get rid of net neutrality, we would be paying much more for internet access, and service would only get worse.
By keeping net neutrality we can ensure that internet service will not get any worse, and we can continue to urge internet service providers to provide citizens with the high-speed buffer free internet we know they are capable of providing so that the country that invented the internet can rise in the ranks of internet speed from 28th in the world to maybe one day even outperforming South Korea which is the current leader for internet speeds.
If you agree we need to preserve net neutrality, you can go to gofccyourself.com which will redirect you to the FCC listing for net neutrality where you can then submit an express filing to let the FCC know that you would like to preserve net neutrality.
