)
27.
1.26.11
Net Neutrality:
Changing the Future of Internet Access
Ashleigh Phillips, StaffWriter
The Internet is bound
less: any given minute, Internet
users can access whatever they
want. For example: update your
Facebook status with a link to
Youtube video that’s a hilarious
trailer to an awful horror film
from the ‘80s that you read
about on Wikipedia and then go
Skype your bestie about it. In
ternet users carelessly hop from
one thing to the next with ease:
this limitlessness is why users
love it and use it constantly.
Users have come to rely on this
relationship, but there is some
conflict behind the scenes that
may change it soon.
The Federal Commu
nications.Commission (FCC)
recently approved a set of rules
to regulate network neutrality.,
For those unfamiliar with the
concept, Wikipedia defines net
neutrality as “a principle pro
posed for users’ access to net
works participating in the Inter
net. The principle advocates no
restrictions by Internet service
providers and governments on
content, sites, platforms, the
kinds of equipment that may
be attached, and the modes of
communication.” More basi
cally, net neutrality is the idea
that Internet service providers
should not be allowed to limit
user access through censorship
or high prices. A complex web of
legal issues, engineering chal
lenges, and economic forces that
the average Internet user never
r^THISISS
considers keep an open Internet
running and currently these dif
ferent factions are competing to
determine how internet access will
be regulated.
FCC Chairman Julius
Genachowski said that the rules
“were designed to achieve the
commission’s many objectives: to
protect consumers, to spur inno
vation, to encourage investment
in broadband and technology.”
As agreeable as the description of
the rules sound, there has been
much opposition. Dissenters of ;
these rules believe the FCC is over
reaching with too much regula
tion. Net neutrality advocates be
lieve the rules don’t reach enough
and should enforce stricter rules.
According to the New York
Times subject page on the issue,
two conroversies fuel the conflict.
The first is whether Internet ser
vice providers may block consum
ers’ access to websites, which in its
strictest forms would infringe on
the right of free speech. The sec
ond deals with cost. Can Internet
service providers charge content
providers a fee to reach consum
ers or charge consumers different
prices for different speeds? Ana
lysts are generally in agreement
that blocking access to websites is
prohibited. Tiered or prioritized
content packages that charge more
or less based on data use may or
may not be allowed, but charging
consumers for higher speeds is
okay. The question still remains if
any of these rules will apply to the
State & Locah Meredith T-shirts, Arizona Shooting Aftermath,
Chinese President in Washington
Arts & Entertainment: Hucldeberry Finn, Lion King, Golden;,
Globes, Local Beat
Campus Life: Summer Study Abroad Opportunities, Grathwdhl
^Lecture
Aaoi
ebr
JliNBCi
High Spf*t. ■
Internet Vdeo Indudes ail Siese and more, over 6Q websites, including popul^ on-line email
and instant messaging services
Goc
■j)
WjKiranA
laiiool.
Includes more sea-ch engine opdons, over ZOO-websites in all!
YouiE
k-'M
Be a publisher! Blog! Over 2000 website induded in this padiage so you can see it all!
Full inte met accea available on requea. Prices subjectto change at any time. fFull Acce»does not include accea to illegal maefiahti
image via appleinsider.com
mobile web.
Columbia Law Professor
Tim Wu, credited with coining the
term “network neutrality,” pre
dicts, “an Internet experience ever
more divided by whether you pick
up your laptop or your phone.”
Why bother with cable and phone
service if you can watch tv and
make calls for free online? The
phone and cable companies feel as
if they are getting the cold shoul
der and for this reason would like
to charge extra on services like
Youtube, Hulu, and Skype to reach
subscribers on a “fast lane.” But
it’s unclear if these fast lanes will
even be legal.
As the conflict continues to
' swell, the future of net neutrality
remains uncertain. But what does
remain certain is that FCC’s new
laws will be challenged in court
while many uninformed Internet
users continue to update their
Facebook statuses. Neutral in
ternet access may be the current
standard, but soon users could
be charged more to stream video
or download software. If citizens
want to keep it that way, they
should start voicing their opin
ions to government officials that
will play a large role in shaping
the laws that determine the in
ternet’s future. For now, here’s to
the internet as President Barack
Obama describes it should be,
“open and free.”
The Meredihi Herald is online!
Fan us on Facebook:
f aceb ook.com/mere cf ilhher al d
Follow us on Twitter:
twitter.coin/ineredithlierald