Net Neutrality Case Study

INTRODUCTION The emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web brought upon a medium of communication with a range of opportunities for the world. However, this medium is, in due course, subject to the control of a few major companies. The enigma of information flow is the central concern of net neutrality. Consumers, competition and network owners would benefit directly from the regulation of network neutrality because it would provide a positive impact to those parties as well as provide equality.

The Battle for Net Neutrality Last January 14, 2014, a Washington D.C. court ruled out the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation on Open Internet or more popularly known as net neutrality. The decision on the case sparked debate between those fighting for net neutrality and the companies who want to take advantage of the internet’s popularity. This was a victory for Verizon, an Internet Service Provider, and other companies like it. In her article, Net Not Free for All, Aviva Rutkin writes that “information will no longer be free, but governed by the whims of big business” (Rutkin 24). She is right.

The internet should remain a free resource to access information from a variety of sources and points of view. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently voted to repeal Net Neutrality which could not only slow down internet connections for the general public, but also control what kinds information are accessible to internet users. This is dangerous because it creates a

“There is so much that we can do together to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans and promote innovation and investment. From broadband to broadcast, I believe in 21st-century version of Jefferson's 2nd Inaugural: We are all Republicans, We are all Democrats.” This is a quote from Ajit Pai, FCC Chairman. He has won net neutrality, and has seen that it being the way it is now lets it grow and flower. Not force people to pay more for certain things and see certain things. People should be able to look at they want because they already have to pay, big companies should not get extra money off people and people who are less fortunate may not be able to afford it.

Peralta, Eyder. "Reports: FCC Poised For Changes To Net Neutrality Policy." NPR. NPR, 23 Apr. 2014a. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

To begin with, net neutrality is a major thing that is needed. Everyone lives with and uses the Internet. It is like a child to his or her mother; the mother has to take care of the child. Recently, the FCC announced that it would push for the “ death of net neutrality” which would mean that all Internet traffic would be treated equally (Abbruzzese). Let’s pretend that our ISPs (Internet Service Providers) are freeways on which our data travels. With net neutrality, ISPs would not be able to open up new lanes for “fat users,” that is everyone would have the same speed limit (Abbruzzese). By doing this, not only will the information be not available at an instant, it would make the situation worse than it already is.

Many Americans today rely on the Internet for two main reasons: information and connectivity. Some may consider it as the biggest library available because of the endless information it can provide. It further enhanced people’s knowledge of what’s going on all around the globe and has been proved to be a very powerful tool that is available for anyone to use. Communication improved not just here in the United States of America, but also in other countries thanks to social media. Despite of all this, there is still an evident problem for American citizens when it comes to Internet Regulation. There’s an apparent government intervention when it comes to regulating the Internet. Under net neutrality, companies shouldn’t restrict what and how much information or media users can access. Every citizen deserves Internet freedom, which is also tied with privacy and the identity of the people using the Internet. The government should protect its citizens from the threats of the Internet like bullying and stalking, and fraud or theft issues like compromised credit card or bank account information from phishing websites and hackers.

On any given day in 2015, you would be hard-pressed to walk into a room at random in America without encountering a Smart Phone. There is hardly a library left that does not feature a quiet chorus of clicking keyboards from the laptops within. We are, in essence, permanently plugged in to the Great and Powerful Internet, and we rely on service providers (ISP’s) to provide us with this now-important resource. Lately, though, getting Internet is becoming less and less simple as folks debate the enforcement of Internet— or “net”— neutrality in the United States. There are a lot of inflated egos arguing back and forth on the subject, and the phrase “net neutrality” is becoming widely recognized amongst every day Internet users. But how many of these people actually get what is going on, here? What is net neutrality, and why are household net surfers and economists alike getting

In December 2005, 98 percent of broadband service stated that they had an interest in providing a multi-tiered internet service to user and also expressed desire to charge content providers more money for preferential access to their broadband service. As a result many content providers protested for a neutral internet, one that does not discriminate. Their effort led to the debates about net neutrality and a way to legislate and prevent ISP’s from creating a multi-tiered internet service [1]. The term net neutrality is coined by Professor Tim Wu, of Columbia University [3]. In 2010 the FCC created regulations for the “Open Internet”, these ruled prohibite...

The 21st Century, commonly referred to as the Information Age, is largely dependent on the Internet. The Internet has historically been an open medium, as it provides access to the world’s largest collection of information. In order to protect this establishment, The Federal Communications Committee (FCC), a government agency which serves as an authority on communications law, regulation, and technological advancement, put in place a set of laws, called the Open Internet Order, in order to establish a concept of net neutrality. These net neutrality laws stood in effect until January 14, 2014, when a Federal Appeals Court struck down the Open Internet Order, on the grounds that the FCC had overstepped its authority to regulate this field. Net neutrality, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “the fact or principle of Internet service providers enabling access to all content and applications regardless of the source or destination, and without favoring or blocking particular formats, products, web sites, etc.” (net, n.1). That means that if two users share a common Internet Service Provider (ISP), they are entitled to the same quality of service regardless of data size. If one user is downloading large music files, while the other is sending an email, their quality of service should be the same. Net neutrality laws are important and necessary because they protect against Internet Service Providers forming monopolies on the market, screening the content a user can view, and stifling freedom of speech.