Why Net Neutrality Is A Big Deal

Ethan Philpott, Arts & Entertainment Editor

I’m sure you’ve all heard it by now. The internet is in a roar over it. Wherever you go online, you are bound to see something about net neutrality. Many people don’t know what net neutrality is, but trust when I say this. You will know when it’s gone.

Here’s a quick rundown of net neutrality: Net Neutrality is pretty much the First Amendment of the internet. When you use the internet you expect to be able to do whatever you want. Go anywhere, access anything. The world is at your fingertips. Net neutrality is the protection of this right. Equal opportunity for internet speeds and access, no unfair fast/slow lanes and blocking by service providers.

Net Neutrality was passed in June of 2015. After a decade-long battle over the future of the internet, the FCC adopted strong Net Neutrality rules based on Title II of the Communications Act, giving internet users the strongest protections possible. Title II prevents companies like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon from blocking, throttling, or interfering with your internet experience. The repeal of Title II will give service providers the ability to tailor your internet experience to how they want it, to support their views or being able to tax you for certain sites.

Trump’s FCC chairman, Ajit Pai is leading the initiative against net neutrality. Pai is former Associate General Counsel at Verizon Communications Inc., Verizon being one of the companies that has fought against net neutrality for years. Safe to say, this is a move for big businesses and not the rest of Americans.

The FCC will vote on Pai’s internet killing plan on December 14th. Without net neutrality small businesses won’t have a chance of making it big. An example is when Verizon wouldn’t let users use Google wallet. Big companies will immediately shut down their competitors.