If you are not familiar with the term “Net Neutrality,” now might be a good time—because soon it could become a historical artifact. Net Neutrality is the governing principle of the internet: that internet service providers and governments treat all data equally. A few days ago a US Appeals Court struck down that protection, and if the FCC does not appeal the ruling successfully, we all could be stuck with additional fees for “fast lane” or tiered services. And it could be worse than that. If a carrier doesn’t like the information sites (political or otherwise) you frequent, your access could be manipulated. And maybe you depend on the internet for commerce…
To find out more read Betsy Isaacson’s article in Huffington Post.
CNET also has a good breakdown on why this issue matters, here.
Maurice Heartfield says
Net neutrality is an important concept, and in fact the bigger threat may now come from govt control in the aftermath of this court decision, as explained here: https://www.wired.com/opinion/2014/01/one-talking-comes-net-neutrality/