OPINION: What Does the Repeal of Net Neutrality Mean for America?
Imagine saying goodbye to Netflix, only receiving emails from the sites your Internet service provider likes, and no longer having access to many of the services you rely on, all because your provider dislikes them or you simply can’t afford them anymore.
That could all happen very soon.
On December 14th, a five-person board of the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, voted to repeal a 2015 set of regulations regarding the Internet. Predictably, the three Republicans on the board voted for the repeal, and the two Democrats against.
It is extremely irresponsible for the U.S. government to allow just five unelected individuals to vote on regulation that could affect millions of people. It is also noteworthy that 83% of Americans were against the FCC’s proposal, while only 16% were in support.
So what is Net Neutrality? In this case, it means Internet service providers are required to treat all data the same. Providers can’t slow down or block service from websites or apps they dislike for any reason. They also can’t provide faster service to those they prefer, such as an online service owned by their own company. For example, a provider could not block services like Netflix, Youtube, or Amazon Video in order to make their consumers more inclined to use the provider’s own streaming service. The regulations also mean that providers can’t charge more for services that require more bandwidth. Bandwidth is the maximum rate of data transfer on a specific connection. A service like Netflix requires significantly more bandwidth than one like Facebook, and if providers were able to hike up prices for services like Netflix, that could easily mean consumer prices would rise as a result.
Because these regulations have been repealed, Internet service providers now have the power to charge bandwidth-hogging companies much higher prices. Not only that, but they can also charge customers higher prices for accessing these services. To some this may seem like a positive, because it would allow them to pay for only the services they need rather than one package-deal rate, but it could also be discouraging to newer services and apps. By charging high prices, new services have less of a chance at breaking through because they likely don't have the money to pay such high prices. Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave a good example, saying “Imagine a world in which we were all still stuck with MySpace… Net Neutrality is part of why that’s not [the situation we’re in].”
Back in 2015, the FCC re-classified broadband internet service as a public utility, allowing these regulations to be enforced and effectively allowing fair internet access for all Americans. The then-chairman of the FCC stated that Internet access was “too important to let broadband providers be the ones making the rules.” The current chairman, a conservative named Ajit Pai, would rather return to the regulations put in place in 1996- a time when there was no Google or the social media we enjoy today- than have anything to do with these Obama-era regulations. Thankfully, several states and cities have already announced their intent to challenge the FCC’s decision. Net Neutrality is not going out without a fight from the American people.
Net Neutrality is important to preserving America's Internet freedom, and its repeal is a step backwards into an unregulated period it’d be best not to revisit.
Works Cited
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/12/12/this-poll-gave-americans-a-detailed-case-for-and-against-the-fccs-net-neutrality-plan-the-reaction-among-republicans-was-striking/?utm_term=.2964cd2944ab
https://www.inverse.com/article/32090-net-neutrality-2017
https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/18/fcc-chairman-net-neutrality-1996/
https://www.aclu.org/other/net-neutrality-myths-and-facts
http://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-world/2017/12/15/what-is-net-neutrality-and-why-does-it-matter/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqXKEgTYZBQ