Pros And Cons Of Implementing Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a hot topic in the united states at the moment, as millions of people are up in arms over the proposed repeal. The FCC voted on december fourteenth to remove net neutrality regulations from the internet, to the dismay of many people. Much of the rousing arguments have to do with protecting the open internet; while many say that removing net neutrality will improve competition on the internet, improving consumer prices, like in so many other businesses, others believe that the repeal will harm small start up companies on the internet and lead to increased prices for consumers. Overall, repealing net neutrality will be disastrous for the internet, leading to paid prioritization which will only increase consumer prices, and

Similarly the packaged internet bundles are justified in the same way any other good is, the mentality being that if you don't use a service you shouldn’t have to pay for it, and if you do want the deluxe package, it’s there for you to spend your money on. This does make a lot of sense seeing as in any other case, we simply wouldn’t buy what weed don’t want or need. The problem arises in the fact that actual websites and content providers themselves have almost no say in if they want to be in these bundles or not. Imagine scenario in which those who want to access netflix must pay an addition ten dollars a month for the entertainment bundle. It's not hard to imagine that a plethora of people wouldn’t take kindly to this proposition and would simply stop paying for the service. Netflix now has less users and is making less money, and would thusly have to increase the price of their subscriptions to compensate for this. Overall this translates to disastrous costs for consumers and the transformation of everyday online services into expensive

A sort of survival of the fittest of websites is sure to actually increase competition if theses fast and slow lanes are instated. Until you realize that these lanes will be offered with gross negligence. Without net neutrality in place there will be no guidelines on how internet service providers offer these fast lanes. Internet providers are perfectly in the right to offer a fast lane to one website or slow another at their own discretion. Internet service providers may also block websites entirely, as they now choose which content to promote and which to relegate. In fact, back in 2007, the email service AOL censured emails that contained negative opinions on their upcoming tax bill. Danny O'Brien, Activism Coordinator of the Electronic Frontier Foundation says"The fact is, ISPs like AOL commonly make these kinds of arbitrary decisions every day - silently banning huge swathes of legitimate mail on the flimsiest of reasons - and no one hears about it." (Danny O’Brien). Steve Wozniak, the co founder of apple sums this up by saying “A fast lane for some is a slow lane for others. Even more troubling than the threat to consumers is the threat to democracy. Ending net neutrality would take freedom and choice from the less powerful.”(Steve Wozniak) So the removal of net neutrality would allow for websites to unwillingly have their content blocked at the volition of the internet service provider. Its