Net Neutrality
what is net neutrality?
Net neutrality has been a hot topic on the internet for many years now. Net neutrality means that all traffic traveling across the internet should be treated the same at each stage of the process, but what does this mean?
Suppose the internet is a highway.
There are two lanes, the premium lane and the normal lane. The premium lane has little to no traffic and allows drivers to travel at a much faster speed while the normal lane is constantly experiencing traffic jams and even when traffic isn't bad the speed at which drivers may travel is much slower than is optimal. This metaphorical highway is what advocates for net neutrality are trying to avoid on the internet.
how does this affect me?
If ISPs (internet service providers) were allowed to regulate the the speed of websites this would create a sort of monopoly. For example say youtube pays the ISPs to have faster speeds than other websites, what happens then? would you choose another website that takes three minutes to load or would you prefer to use a website that has load times so short you don’t even notice? The logical conclusion would be to use the faster website. This causes a bias towards websites that can afford to pay to have higher speeds.
More money equals faster speeds. Faster speeds equals more money.
Let’s say Joe creates a website that offers video uploading and streaming of videos. This website gets very popular. Joe can then use the money he earned from this or from his own pocket to pay his ISP to get a better streaming experience. Sounds great right? Everyone wins. It may seem like it’s great but what if another young entrepreneur, Jack, comes along and starts an even better website? But his streaming experience is nowhere near as good as Joe’s because jack cant afford to spend the kind of money Joe could. What happens? Jack’s website gets overlooked. Joe’s website becomes the only website for that service
The use of a “premium lane” kills the free market system of the internet.
The loss of freedom and new websites in the internet results in a loss of new ideas and innovations creating a stagnant environment which may end in the death of the internet as we know and love.
should I be worried?
Most likely not. There has been strong support for net neutrality recently and many petitions and awareness programs have been created, signed and presented to those in power of this decision. However, if you are still concerned about net neutrality you can visit savetheinternet.com to learn more on how you can speak up.
by Ben Echard, Benicia high school senior
