About a year ago a friend of mine told me not to go to the “Virgin Festival” on Toronto Island. He told me that if I went I would be supporting one of our generations biggest evils, being the loss of net neutrality. Of course I ignored him because I was too busy thinking about Explosions in the Sky, but I am now realizing just how right he was. Now, in University it is a topic being discussed in a number of my classes and I'm sure that it will continue to be discussed as I move forward.
Network neutrality or net neutrality is a term used to describe our Internet freedom. This is our freedom to navigate any website we want at the same speed and convenience no matter if it is corporately or independently owned. It also prevents our Internet providers from having any control over the speed and convenience of the Internet.
The issue is that the Internet providers, that we have trusted all of our Internet using years, are now trying to formulate a new and completely different Internet. One where we are not free to surf without discrimination but one where we will have to pay and the more we pay the more we will get.
Telephone and Cable companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner, want to control the speed of each website based on who is paying them more, as 'Gatekeepers' they make these decisions and if you refuse to pay, your website will no longer load.
The biggest concern here is that the only websites that will be able to afford these fees are the corporately owned ones. There will no longer be any independently owned websites, no more freedom of speech, no more open communication. The future of the Internet would be lost and the present Internet we know and love will be nonexistent.
This may sound like a conspiracy theory but there is clear evidence supporting it. The advocates at, popular net neutrality website, 'Savetheinternet.com' say, “The CEOs of all the largest telecom companies have made clear their intent to build a tiered Internet with faster service for the select few companies willing or able to pay the exorbitant tolls.”
'Savetheinternet.com' stresses that it is up to the little people to fight for net neutrality and demand their Internet freedom. They suggest many strategies of doing so like, spreading the word using blogs and websites, calling a government official and asking them to support net neutrality and signing the 'Savetheinternet.com' petition.
Now that I am informed I will surely follow this advice. I can't even imagine life without the Internet.
"Net Neutrality". Youtube. April 21st, 2006. Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9jHOn0EW8U
"Frequently Asked Questions". Savetheinternet.com. Available: http://www.savetheinternet.com/=faq
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