Net Neutrality for Internet Freedom
Save the Internet and Others Fight for Internet Neutrality
Internet users have been enjoying internet freedom since the inception of the internet. In countries with relatively low internet censorship, people have free access to information, and ever-expanding options for media applications and commerce. An end to net neutrality could change all of this, by a small degree at first, with potential for widespread manipulations of data movement by internet service providers in the future.
With the threat to internet neutrality, individuals, small business owners, and groups have come together to form the coalition, Save the Internet, in hopes of bringing about legislation that will officially make discrimination and inequality on the part of internet service providers illegal.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality is the principle that consumers and internet users have a right to all forms of online data, with no one company, content source, or online application having precedence over another. It gives a small business the chance to sell their product along side a multi-million dollar competitor; a blogger the ability to post information next to major news outlets; and a consumer the ability to choose between different search engines, video streaming applications, online games, digital music markets, and information sources. It ensures the internet freedom that has made the online world as expansive, dynamic, an filled with opportunities as it is today.
Although internet neutrality has always been an inherent concept of the internet, it is not protected by law. In fact, since 2005, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put out Policy Statement 05-151, which announced their jurisdiction over neutrality in telecommunications provider operations, major telecom companies, such as Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable, have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbyists to encourage Congress and the FCC to dissolve net neutrality, according to Richard Whitt of Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, in his Google Public Policy Blog post, “Time to Let the Process Unfold” (October 22, 2009).
If the network service providers can convince Congress that net neutrality is unfair, against the best efforts of proponents of internet freedom and equality, from Save the Internet to companies such as Google and Amazon.com, then there may be dramatic shifts in internet content.
How Net Neutrality Preserves Internet Freedom
Net neutrality encourages internet service providers to present data and websites in a neutral manner. For instance, one company cannot pay a provider to cause their competitor’s website from loading slowly, or not at all. Small businesses do not have to pay for consumers to have access to their online stores. Political groups cannot pay to make a blog with opposing views difficult to load. Net neutrality, in essence, prevents runaway internet censorship. The flow of data is not up to the network owners and those who can pay for priority, but instead, the decision is made by the information seeker.
Save the Internet and Other Supporters of Internet Neutrality
Now that the fate of net neutrality is being discussed, as it will either become a law, or be restricted, people have come together to promote awareness and to raise support for continued internet freedom. Save the Internet is a motley group of non-profits, businesses, citizen journalists, lawyers, special interest groups, and businesses who recognized the need for a movement. There is no shared political agenda or belief system between groups as varied as the ACLU and Gun Owners of America, only common interest.
Telecomm companies have been lobbying the government, putting out their own campaigns, such as Hands Off the Internet, and releasing public statements making their vision for a tiered internet known. Save the Internet is the organized voice against these efforts. The Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009, proposed by Representatives Edward Markey and Anna Eshoo, would protect net neutrality. For now, the debate over regulation by the FCC or regulation by internet service providers continues.
Sources:
Block, Ryan. “Net Neutrality and the FCC: What’s Being Done to Preserve It.” (Engadet, March 29, 2007).
Save Internet Freedom with Net Neutrality
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