So, it’s that time of year again, no not Christmas, unfortunately. I’m talking about the FFC’s vote to roll back net neutrality. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is an independent government agency that regulates interstate communications such as radio, TV, etc. This group has been trying to roll back net neutrality in past few years. For those of you that do not know what net neutrality is, it is basically what allows a person to go on to the internet, and not have companies like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, etc. mess with your data, or your internet speed. Net Neutrality keeps an open internet that’s free for everyone to communicate. The consequences of losing Net Neutrality will have a significant impact on the internet as a whole. These consequences include:
#1: The FCC would have the power to block sites they dislike such as anything that competes with these companies.
#2: They could make sites like YouTube payable, in other words, those music videos you watch on the weekends for free, now will cost money.
#3: It will make it extremely difficult for small companies and entrepreneurs to get off the ground to compete against these big companies.
#4: They can slow down or speed up your internet speed, and you might have to pay that company for faster internet speeds.
Overall, if this vote passes, it will be the end of a free, easy to access internet, and in its place will, will be an internet run by a few big companies. As I mentioned before, the FCC has tried to do this before as recently as 2015. If you wish to know more about this then I suggest watching John Oliver as he has two videos on the subject. Net Neutrality deals with the 2015 vote, while he has recently put up a video known as Net Neutrality II. The vote for Net Neutrality takes place DEC. 14th 2017.
We often take this for granted as this has be an open internet for as long as we can remember, but soon that may no longer be the case. However, there are a number of people, like myself, who dislike the FCC’s vote on this. At the moment, various groups are trying to stop the vote or are trying to have the vote in favour of the way things stand now.
