Net Neutrality: Why is it so important?

Ever since the birth of the Internet, it became more and more important to every person on the Earth as time flew. Every person on this planet is directly or indirectly connected to the biggest network of the world that is the Internet. We use it for email, website surfing, games, communication, reading, and many more things.

But what if, your ISP charges you extra for playing games, or making calls with free services like Skype or Hangouts?
What if, your favourite websites are always slow other than big giants like Google, Facebook or Twitter?
What if, you are blocked to visit the websites of many countries or of some particular topics like Bitcoin or even Net Neutrality?

This could happen and in fact, this has been done by some ISPs in many regions near the past. Let’s go into details step by step to better understand the net neutrality, what defines it, its rules, and how can we save it.

The Almighty Internet

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks and an Internet service provider (ISP) is an organisation that provides services accessing and using the Internet.

We all know this thing, that the Internet is a big giant network and ISP connects us with this network by sending our data to and fro to the internet.
According to Wikipedia, “As of March 2017, 49.7% of the population is on the internet. In 2015, the International Telecommunication Union estimated about 3.2 billion people, or almost half of the world’s population, would be online by the end of the year.”

Net Neutrality

The meaning of ‘Net Neutrality’ is to treat all the information or data on the network in the same manner.

Although, there are three basic principles which define the Net Neutrality :

1. All sites must be equally accessible; ISPs and other telecom operators should not block certain sites or apps just because they don’t pay them. No gateways should be created, in order to give preferential discovery to one site over another
2. All sites must be accessible at the same speed (at an ISP/telco level); This means no speeding up of certain sites because of business deals. More importantly, it means o slowing down (throttling) of some sites.
3. The cost of access to all the sites must be same (per Kb/Mb or as per data plans); This means no “Zero Rating”. In countries like India, Net Neutrality is more about the cost of access than the speed of access: all lanes are slow.

What would happen if we lost Net Neutrality?

The internet without Net Neutrality isn’t really the internet. Unlike the open internet that has paved the way for so much innovation and given a platform to people who have historically been shut out, it would become a closed-down network where cable and phone companies call the shots and decide which websites, content or applications succeed.

Without Net Neutrality, we will only be able to share and read what the ISPs will want or they will be paid to. You won’t be able to make a movement. ISPs will be able to block websites or content they don’t like or applications that compete with their own offerings.

Losing the Net Neutrality is like let your mobile carrier decide whom to make calls and what words you can speak; Means whatever you see on internet is actually will be what ISPs want you to see.

Net Neutrality is crucial for small business owners, startups and entrepreneurs, who rely on the open internet to launch their businesses, create markets, advertise their products and services, and reach customers. We need the open internet to foster job growth, competition and innovation.

Net Neutrality lowers the barriers of entry by preserving the internet’s fair and level playing field. It’s because of Net Neutrality that small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive online.

Without Net Neutrality, the next Google or Facebook would never get off the ground.

What can we do to save the Internet?

ISPs and opponents have done everything they can to destroy Net Neutrality. Many countries like Brazil, Canada, Chile, European Union, India, Netherland, Philippines, Singapore are fighting for Net Neutrality for a long time.

It’s a long run to save the internet, and unfortunately, there is no direct approach to do this, our unity is our strength and that is what can make us win.

Millions have already taken a stand to defend our rights to connect and communicate. Take action now and join the fight. Sign the Petition, and make your voice even larger to save the open Internet.

Summary

Internet is a very important part of the Earth and ISPs are the gatekeepers of the Internet, we will have to fight against these odds to save the Internet because without Net Neutrality, Internet will be like the hallucinating Matrix and we will not able to know that too.

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