Net Neutrality: What Is It And Why Is It Important To You
Net Neutrality: What Is It And Why Is It Important To You
Ninety percent of the Internet population has no clue what the term " Net Neutrality" is, although they enjoy the fruits of it on a daily basis. If it were to end today the Internet as we have come to know it would cease to exist. This is not an alarmist conspiracy theory; it is a fact. The idea is on the table and it will not be long before it is being pushed as the agenda of the day. Read on to know more about net neutrality and how it affects us all.Let's examine what it is and what we stand to loose by its loss. As the Internet is operated now, all traffic is sent at the same speed no matter where it comes from. Granted, when you buy web hosting, you can pay more to get better hosting (and thus faster webpages and happier customers). But when it comes to actual internet service, this is not the case. So the playing field is level. Now imagine if the large corporations could pay to have their sites given preferential treatment. What if they could pay to have all traffic to and from their sites sent faster and before sites that couldn't afford to pay. What would that do to free Internet enterprise? How would the mom and pop survive?As it stands today a small business and large corporation all get the same shot at traffic. As a devoted small business consulting agent, this makes me optimistic. But if the proposal set forth by both Google and Verizon gets inserted it will drastically change the way the Internet is run. The powers that be want you to believe that it will only affect certain mobile devices but if it gets a foothold it won't stop there. Really it never does when it comes to squeezing the little guy out.Although nothing has been solidified the fact that the ISP's are entertaining this idea is a bit frightening. They control the cables that carry the information around the states and around the world. Whenever you use the Internet your request is sent through somebody's cables.As it stands it's done at the same speed for everyone large or small but if you can pay to get yours sent before others this gives you an edge and you can bet the ones with the deepest pockets will get the greatest edge. The wheels of capitalism churn and the little guy always get the short end of the stick. The time to act on this is now before it gets started. We have to make our voices heard. We have to speak up and speak out before the Internet goes the way of everything else in this society. The rich will get richer and the poor will struggle to make ends meet. We cannot afford to let this become the private stomping grounds of the moneyed set. We cannot afford to let money be the guiding influence of this the last hope of those trying to get ahead in America.