We're Losing Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality- the understanding that whether you are an average citizen or a large conglomerate, you have the equal accessibility of Internet speed and webpage access. We (average citizens) are against it. Major internet providers (Comcast, Verizon, AT&T) are for it.

This understanding, however, could see changes in the future due to major service providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. these companies “want a tiered internet. If you pay to get in the top tier, your site and your service will run fast. If you don’t, you’ll be in the slow lane” (savetheinternet.com).  Net neutrality means that Internet service providers “may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online.” If net neutrality is abused, it means we are facing a great deal of discrimination and problems that many average citizens will not agree with.

In the recent documentary, Barbershop Punk, the potential loss of net neutrality is addressed to us along with one man’s issue with Comcast. Robb Tobolski, seen in Barbershop Punk, “found that Comcast, his Internet service provider, was interfering with his peer-to-peer sharing of public-domain material.” The Federal Communications Commission eventually gave a ruling against Comcast (Webster, 2010).”

We are not necessarily at net neutrality any longer. Now, we are at semi-net neutrality. New York Times writes, “They ban any outright blocking and any “unreasonable discrimination” of Web sites or applications by fixed-line broadband providers, but they afford more wiggle room to wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon.”

This example shows that we are slowly reaching less and less of net neutrality. The question is, how much further is this “discrimination” going to go? And, when is this process (if it does occur) going to happen? What can we do as an “average citizen” to stop the absence of net neutrality from taking place?

It seems that the further we get into the world of the Internet, the further we are becoming controlled and manipulated. There is no such thing as being protected online, because every time we enter in our personal information, it is being shared and sold to many other major companies (Madison, 2012). The only way to stay fully protected is to not upload that information in the first place. With the fear of putting information on the Internet plus the fear of losing the freedom of net neutrality, the Internet is sounding more and more like an unfriendly place.

I am hoping that the loss of net neutrality does not occur and that we are able to continue using the internet freely; however, the more and more I read into this topic the more I fear that our freedom days are over. If these major corporations get hold of all of our access to the Internet, who knows what is coming next. I hope that the people come together and are loud enough to prevent this from happening.

http://www.techi.com/2012/03/the-latest-reality-of-online-safety-were-all-being-watched/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality

http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-101

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.html

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/movies/barbershop-punk-on-net-neutrality-review.html?ref=netneutrality

http://barbershoppunk.com/