The Internet, additionally known as the World Wide Web, is a fairly new concept to the world, and to many people who have only been familiar with information originating from a bound encyclopedia. In America, internet access is widespread and accessible to a large majority of people. So long as you have a capable device and stable connection, all the information you can (or can’t) think of is at your fingertips - quite literally! Mobile devices are becoming a highly common commodity, particularly in light of the massive increase in the use of technology in public settings, such as schools and businesses. A recent development in the regulation of the internet has made waves in the community of an internet-accustomed generation of people: the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission’s 3-to-2 vote to repeal net neutrality laws.
Enacted by Former President Barack Obama in 2014, net neutrality refers to “the principle that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication,” according to Wikipedia. Essentially these laws are used to prevent content from being discriminated against, especially if that content is not as popular as other content. Many are outraged at the repeal of these laws, calling the act “a war on the lower class” or “a modern day form of censorship.” This plan to repeal these laws did not garner much attention, specifically because of the general public was mostly unaware that the laws even existed in the first place. Unfortunately, this lack of awareness cause there to be little backlash at the first mention of repeal. Gradually through major social media platforms, such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Facebook, attention was drawn to this incredibly important set of laws. People began changing their profile names and “bios” to hashtags in support of the laws.
Headed by Republican Ajit Pai, the Federal Communications Committee, or FCC, consists of 5 members: 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats. On Thursday, December 14th, these 5 voted whether or not to repeal the net neutrality laws. Each party voted as expected, ending in a 3 to 2
But what exactly is Net neutrality? Net neutrality means cable companies such as Time Warner Cable and Verizon cannot charge more for faster internet speeds. Which means everybody who uses the internet will have the same speed. Hence the word neutrality. Verizon communication sued the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) saying that they do not have jurisdiction over that subject and limiting speeds is a violation of the First Amendment. "The FCC says Net neutrality rules are designed to preserve the internet as an open platform enabling consumer Choice, freedom of expression, and end-user control, competition, and the freedom to innovate without permission." This case went to the US court of appeals for the DC circuit. The courts ruled in favor of a Verizon. The reasoning for the decision is that “FCC has no authority to apply common-carrier obligation like non-discrimination and no-blocking rules to broadband providers.” I agree with this decision. The reason is that the internet should not be like electricity. If you plug your phone into the wall to charge. It's going to have the same amount of current as someone else charging their phone. But what happens if I want to charge my phone faster? I can’t because electricity is neutral. But when I go on the internet and I see it is slow. What happens if I want to make it faster? With Net neutrality I could not make it faster. I want the option to make my internet faster. And what happens to large corporations where internet speed is essential to stay in business? The fact of the matter is that the FCC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. Net neutrality should never be passed. It will only hurt the consumer. In addition, the FCC approved of a $9.25 monthly charge to help low-income families connect to the internet. Three out of the five Commissioners voted for the subsidy plan. This approval is one part of the reform of the fund
The issue of the FCC and the lawsuit against them is officially in the courts hands. Way back in March the US Telecom Association filed a lawsuit against them because they thought the net neutrality rules were not rightly adopted. Both sides have spoken and here is what they had to say.
Net Neutrality is essential to our everyday lives, and it is perilously close to being repealed on December 14th by the FCC; but if more people take a stand in support of Net Neutrality, we can preserve the free internet. Net Neutrality needs to be saved because it protects free speech, free trade of information and services, and the privacy of our data. This is an issue that concerns all citizens regardless of political affiliation, but lawmakers have made it a fight between the two parties. Most people did not care about Net Neutrality or even know what it is until fairly recently, but recent events regarding it's likely repeal have turned the public’s attention towards it.
Net neutrality became big news last year because the FCC wanted to eliminate it. This made such a huge impact on social media because nobody wanted to pay for every single application. If you wanted to search up something simple on the Internet, you would have to pay for it. Every single connection would have to be paid for and it would look like this.
In just the past few decades, the internet has grown from a new technology, into a staple resource for billions. When anything grows from a service to a necessity, important decisions have to be made about regulating and limiting the control any given party has over them or risk abuse of power. When it comes to the internet, net neutrality is at the forefront of these regulations. Net neutrality, is the idea that access to the internet should be unrestricted and free; According to Emily Hong and Sarah Morris “In the simplest of terms: the FCC rules [on net neutrality] mean no fast and slow lanes on the internet, no blocking of content, and no provider throttling your streaming
The idea that net neutrality was being voluntarily being followed by ISP is wrong. There are examples of ISP starting to do practices such as the ISP Comcast slowing down the sharing of peer to peer files also know as bittorrents (Kang, Cecilia. "Court Rules for Comcast over FCC in 'net Neutrality' Case.") before these new FCC rules were made. AT&T was lobbying for a bill that would make it nearly impossible for local municipalities to create their own public ISP that would compete with private ISP in their area(Farivar, Cyrus.). With the new rules put in place by the FCC, ISP must now follow this rules or face legal
The internet was first included in the broadcast and spectrum allotment by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This considerable change to the original Telecommunications Act lead to the internet to be regulated by the government for the first time in history. During late 2003, the term “Net Neutrality” was then adopted for this act (The History of). As time went on, Net Neutrality became one of the internet’s guiding principles, there for, obligating Internet providers to supply open networks by not manipulating with any applications or content (Press, Free. “Net). Although the internet has been operating with Net Neutrality for the last two decades, there has been recent movements to remove the protections in which keep Net Neutrality in motion. In the U.S., this topic as become controversial, due to people wanting equal rights to the internet
In February 2015, a set of rules called the net neutrality rules came into effect by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) called Title II. These were the strongest net neutrality they could pass, completely blocking numerous cable and phone companies such as AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, etc., from discriminating for/against any site on the internet. Meaning they are not allowed to make any site on the internet run faster or slower, or completely block the site in general.They also prohibited from charging anyone any sort of extra fee for using certain sites. These actions were acclaimed by internet users all over the country as the integrity of the world wide web had stayed in tact. However, thanks to AJit Pai, President Donald Trump’s FCC chairman, net neutrality may
Recently the Federal Communications Commission repealed Obama’s Title II rules, which included net neutrality. This is a bad decision. The repeal of net neutrality will give internet providers the power to slow down and speed up certain websites and charge packages for categories of the Internet such as social media, videos, and messaging.
Net neutrality: in the last decade, companies have worked to reduce it, politicians have clashed over it, and public interest advocates have fought to protect it. Ajit Pai, chairman of the United States Federal Communications Center (FCC), has proposed a bill to completely repeal net neutrality regulations, one of the Obama-era FCC's signature achievements. Network neutrality, or "net neutrality," is the principle that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon must give consumers access to all data on the internet on an equal basis without favoring or blocking any sources; these rules prohibit ISPs from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization - "fast lanes" for sites that pay and "slow lanes" for all others. Going further than simply rolling back Obama-era rules, the repeal plan specifically permits broadband carriers to block media content. On December 14th, 2017, the FCC will hold a vote to make a decision regarding the elimination of net neutrality. Thousands of citizens nationwide are protesting the repeal plan. Protesters encourage people to contact their representatives in Congress in an attempt to protect net neutrality. The significance of these protests is demonstrated by the fact that net neutrality impacts every internet-using American. Economics, Geography, and Political Science best help one understand net neutrality and the recent protests surrounding its repeal.
But internet freedom is once again being called into question. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has unveiled its plans to repeal net neutrality. FCC chairman Ajit Pai (chosen by President Donald Trump), claims net neutrality’s “days are numbered,” as he aims to undo the net neutrality rules approved two years ago under Barack Obama. The decision will come to a vote at an FCC meeting December 14th.
For the past month, net neutrality has been a grossing topic in the United States. However, it has been a waging war that started many years ago back in 2015, when the Federal Communications Commission was for net neutrality. During this time, a 313 page document was released defining the rules of net neutrality and legal justifications for them. The FCC went on to classify Internet service providers as “common carriers” so that they would be in compliance with Title II of the
In a simplified version of what net neutrality is, it is internet service providers being controlled by the FCC and obliges to their rules. The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission run by the government that controls all type of media, phone and tv industries had gained a new head chairman Ajit Pai. The new chairman Ajit Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon has taken action in to trying to remove net neutrality. This has sparked a controversy because net neutrality could affect consumers and businesses. Many people are opposed of this decision and millions of people have spoke up. As of now net neutrality keeps all business equal when it comes to internet access and data, regardless of the content provided. That put all small business and large business on the same playing field and internet
Net neutrality is what makes access to any website on the web free. Providers such as Verizon, AT&T, BroadBand and Telecom companies cannot slow down or speed up the bandwidth on certain websites. In 2015, the Obama administration passed the current standing rules of net neutrality when the democrats had rule over the FCC. Citizens will have to pay extra for ‘bundles’ such as a ‘social media’ bundle or an ‘entertainment’ bundle. On December 14, 2017, the vote took place and it passed for net neutrality to be repelled. Within a few minutes of finding out the turn out of the vote the public was enraged. The public went straight to social media to express their outrage to the final decision. Reddit, Twitter, and many other websites included a pop up on their websites
net neutrality. The year prior to this, net neutrality was almost kissed goodbye; The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had to decide between allowing ISPs to offer fast or slow lanes for internet access or classifying broadband as a telecommunication service therefor making it a utility. Now in the year 2017, companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T want to end net neutrality. In May of 2017 the FCC allowed Trump's current FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to move forward, and as a result, there were major public outcries.Within days there were thousands of calls and emails made to Congress regarding the issue, the power and freedom of the internet were at stake. The public did not stop there of course, on July 12th of 2017 an event called “Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality” came into effect. Over 50,000 websites, major companies,