Net Neutrality
As technology advances and the Internet becomes available to more people, how it is structured and regulated is becoming more important to define. Currently the US has enforced net neutrality to protect the consumer by ensuring that all legal content on the Internet is accessible, and does so by setting up guidelines for internet service providers to follow. Net neutrality guidelines have come into question as internet providers and most the Republican party believe the rules are too strict, and may prohibit economic growth and innovation online. As of 2017, the FCC has created plans to do away with net neutrality guidelines, which has created more discussion about net neutrality and whether it should be enforced. Eliminating
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New York Times writer, Irwin (2014), compares how Internet is used to how people purchase and use electricity versus cable television service. Under net neutrality rules, the Internet functions as a service like electricity. Consumers pay for access to the Internet and then use it how they please. Without net neutrality, the Internet would function like cable television, and consumers would purchase plans that determine which content they have access to (para.3). The Internet has been and is currently treated like electricity, as net neutrality rules require “internet service providers to connect users to all lawful content on the Internet equally” (Public …show more content…
Ajit Pai, the current chairman for the FCC, says that net neutrality rules are like “regulations from the Great Depression that were meant to micromanage Ma Bell” (NPR). Pai, the Republican majority of the FCC, and internet service providers believe lessening the authority net neutrality has over internet service providers will help the online American economy. The current FCC has stated that it wants to classify broadband Internet access as an “information service”, make sure mobile broadband is not defined as a commercial service subject to heavy-handed regulation, and put the Federal Trade Commission in charge of policing internet service provider’s practices (FCC).
Replacing net neutrality with the FCC’s new proposal would lessen the regulation of internet service providers, allowing providers to charge content-makers and popular websites based on how they see fit. Internet service providers disagree with net neutrality, and argue that “popular websites have thus far gotten a ‘free ride’ on their resources” (Cheng, Bandyopadhyay, & Guo, 2011, p.61). As the number of internet users increases, internet service companies will need more sources of revenue to match the cost of increasing