Mr. Burkhartsmeier
AP English Language – Period 2
28 February 2015
Effect of Net Neutrality on Us The debate on net neutrality, an issue with many different layers, has spread throughout the United States. In a basic sense, net neutrality is the equality of access to all legal types of information on the Internet for all users, and in addition companies distributing Internet service can not give priority to certain users or to types of content (Miller, Stelter). While not a law now, net neutrality is generally practiced throughout the Internet, until recently. The new plan that is being debated is a result of this (Lin). Recently the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made an important decision to approve rules that support …show more content…
With net neutrality, this lag will not happen because there will be no prioritizing (Dewey). Net neutrality will benefit most companies (besides the ISPs, although it wouldn’t necessarily hurt them in any way), and all users who want a useful, fast connection. Internet is becoming a huge aspect of people’s lives with learning, shopping, and entertainment all available there, and they should be able to have a good fast connection without feeling pressured to spend more. It is an important part of our lives that we should not have to worry about.
Without net neutrality, regulations on ISP (or the lack thereof) would allow them a lot of power without really any check to that power. ISPs could even block certain services or types of sources (Miller, Stelter). If a source is legal, people who pay of Internet access should have it. Internet is different from television. The Internet is usually used for learning, creating, and sharing. Anyone can post to it, unlike television, so it should not be treated as such. The whole structure and power weight has shifted in the
Fig. 2. This figure shows the differing structure of the Internet and the increased power of ISPs …show more content…
Net neutrality needs to be in place to protect that vast concentration of knowledge for education everywhere. With so many amazing opportunities to learn, it only makes sense to protect that access to this information. This push for net neutrality does not only include public education, but universities as well. President of the American Library Association Barbara Stripling says “The implications for universities are profound in terms of restricting the ability to perform research, to share research, to collaborate, to provide our students with the best access to information and the best opportunities to learn," (qtd. in O’Neil). Since the Internet is becoming so universal for learning, it should be equal in the sense of net neutrality. Net neutrality not only benefits education, but the natural user and small company as well. Net neutrality is an essential part of the Internet that we have been taking for