Net Neutrality: What You Need To Know And How To Save The Internet

When we go online, we have certain expectations. We expect to be connected to whatever website we want, whenever we want. We also expect that our cable or phone company is not messing with the data and is connecting us to all websites, applications, and content we choose. We expect to be in full control of our internet experience.

This is what is called Net Neutrality. It's the basic principle which prevents internet service providers such as e AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon from speeding up or slowing down or blocking any content, applications or websites we want to use. Net Neutrality is how the internet has always worked.

Two years ago, millions of activists pressured the Federal Communications Commission to establish historic Net Neutrality rules that keep the web free and open — allowing people to share and access information of their choosing without interference.

However, right now this win is in jeopardy, as Trump’s FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, aims to destroy Net Neutrality. In May, the FCC had voted to allow Pai’s internet-killing plan to move forward. By the end of the summer, the agency was already flooded with over 20 million comments. The majority of people who commented urged the FCC to preserve the already existing Net Neutrality rules.

Now time is running out, as the FCC will vote on Pai’s proposal on December 14. Join the battle for Net Neutrality here. You can also sign this petition here.

Net Neutrality is the web’s guiding principle that preserves our right to communicate freely online.It enables and protects our free speech. It means that ISPs provides us with open networks — and should not block or discriminate against any content which rides over those networks. Like your phone company should not decide who you call and what you say to them on that call, your ISP should not interfere with the content you view or share online.

Without Net Neutrality, cable and phone companies would be able to carve the web into fast and slow lanes. An ISP would be able to slow down its competitors’ content or block certain political opinions. ISPs could charge extra fees to the content companies which could afford to pay for preferential treatment. That would destroy the open internet.

So here are eight examples of what we won't be able to do if we lose Net Neutrality:

1) We can forget about Skype and other free communication services. Notably, AT&T, as well as other companies, have asked Apple to completely block Skype and similar services from iPhones in the past.

2) Netflix will become extremely slow. Watching programmes available on Netflix and other similar services has recently become harder, as, although it wasn't forbidden, it became extremely slow. If we lose Net Neutrality, things will become even worse.

3) There will be no online 'syndicalism'. If cable and phone companies have the right to block any site they want, a future Orwellian dystopia could become a reality, where there is no freedom of speech. This happened in 2005 in Canada, when Canadian company Telus blocked a workers' website simply because no law prevented this from happening.

4) Online gamers will have to pay a lot. Before the Net Neutrality law was passed in Britain, the company Plusnet decided to make online gamers pay more. They even had to buy a premium subscription so that they could surf online, download videos, and play games. Anyone who didn't want to pay for a premium subscription had to face extremely slow speeds.

5) We will have to pay for a VPN subscription. No matter how unbelievable it sounds today, in 2001 Comcast forced its users who worked from home to buy an expensive VPN package.

6) There will be no Wi-Fi Hot Spots. If there's no Net Neutrality, the concept of free wifi anytime anywhere will become a joke. Verizon tried to block Wi-Fi Hot Spots some years ago, but couldn't because of the law for Net Neutrality.

7) Search engines will promote certain results to serve their market interests. This has been attempted before as well.

8) Welcome censorship! A telecommunication provider representative said to the FCC that since providers 'transmit' people's opinions, they should be authorized to choose which opinions would be transmitted!

Today everyone can communicate whatever they want online. Maybe that isn't always good, but it's one of the greatest achievements of the internet revolution. Without Net Neutrality, we will lose this right.

Almost everyone who realizes and depends on the Internet supports Net Neutrality, whether they are startup founders, activists, gamers, investors, YouTube stars, or typical web users. Take a look at the following video to get an idea:

References: Save The Internet, News247, Wikipedia,
Battle For The Net

Image sources: AP Images