Net Neutrality and the Internet as we know it
One of the hottest topics regarding the internet today is net neutrality. Net neutrality is the concept that internet service providers such as Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast should not be able to speed up, slow down, or block any of the content on the internet that their users want to access. As it stands, the internet and its users have been mostly successful in maintaining a free and open internet but under the Trump administration, net neutrality has become more vulnerable than it has ever been. In particular, the article mentions that the current chairman of the FCC (the government agency that regulates internet communications), Ajit Pai, intends to unveil a plan around Thanksgiving that will fundamentally destroy net neutrality as we know it. If this plan gets voted through, then millions of people will potentially be unable to access information and content freely as they once could.
The introduction of the FCC’s plan to kill net neutrality had me thinking of the fundamental structure of the internet as a network, and how a lack of net neutrality will change the way people search for content on the internet, as we discussed in class. If the FCC resolution allows ISPs to block content on the internet, then many of the pages that result from search queries will be inaccessible and thus will substantially change the way we view information retrieval, as well as potentially disrupt the PageRanks of millions of webpages. Furthermore, slowing down or speeding up certain content, as well as changing prices of internet services will see similar consequences, in addition to a widening gap of different internet user experiences based on users’ socioeconomic statuses. Ultimately, I firmly believe that all users of the internet will benefit from maintaining net neutrality and should strive to protest the FCC’s current position on the issue, in order to keep a free and open internet for many years to come.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20171023/10383838460/fcc-likely-to-use-thanksgiving-holiday-to-hide-unpopular-plan-to-kill-net-neutrality.shtml