Net Neutrality Is Important To Everyone

Net neutrality has been a hot button topic for a while, and until something is put in place that actually ensures the internet is protected people are going to be skeptical of any promises one way or the other. The current FCC proposal on the surface looks to be good news though.

The FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is apparently going to put forward a new proposal that will regulate the internet and forbid Internet Service Providers from slowing down internet traffic and creating a so-called internet fast-lane. Internet will be classified under Title II, the same distinction given to phone lines protecting the public’s interest and preventing what is referred to as “problematic discrimination”.

This article gives a good idea of how Title II might achieve this, and compares it to Section 706, the other regulatory document that is being suggested as a way of protecting the future of the net. As with anything of this nature, it isn’t clear cut, and there are pros and cons for either options.

A variety of different groups are up in arms about the idea of the internet “being broken”. It has become such an integral part of most people’s lives, and it has facilitated the free exchange of information and ideas, and has been seen as having revolutionary potential in many ways. A valuable tool that shouldn’t be wrestled away from the masses by the greedy? Perhaps.

It is hard to be unaware of the issue, but it is also not particularly easy to find out exactly where the situation currently stands. At some point this autumn a decision will be made and whatever the outcome, it is likely to have a lasting impact on the landscape of cyberspace. Or it won’t and this is another storm in a teacup, like the last hullabaloo.