Sadly, in a vote 3 to 2, Federal Communications Commision in America decided to get rid of the net neutrality principles which allowed surfers to browse the Internet without any restrictions. If you wish to learn more about net neutrality, read this article. In short, net neutrality means that cable and telecommunication companies had very little power to influence the Internet. Now, these giants are going to be able to crush the dreams of many Internet surfers.
Removal of net neutrality gives power to Internet providers
With net neutrality, Internet providers were prevented from blocking or in other way influencing traffic or offering paid fast lanes. The vote of the FCC means that these providers will have permissions to block, throttle and prioritize content if that is their decision.
The proposal to destroy net neutrality offers very few rules that Internet providers would have to follow. They will be allowed to create slow and fast lanes, block apps, services and etc. The only things that providers are required to do is announce their decisions and deal with FTC.
One of the strongest haters of net neutrality is the chairman of FCC named Ajit Pai. He is from Trump’s administration and has expressed very opinionated statements (just like his boss), like, “net neutrality was a mistake”. Mistake? For who? Internet providers, who were not able to block their competitors? Boo-hoo.
The removal of net neutrality will provide means for big Internet providers to make their own content more valuable. Rivalry battles will grow into a simple defeats: big companies like Comcast will be able to prioritize their content by blocking their competitors. Does not sound fair, does it?
FCC ignored the voices of millions of Americans
As the Trump’s administration makes another controversial move, Democrats are seeing this change as a misstep. Jessica Rosenworcel spoke out about the decision to get rid of net neutrality. She explains that the voting might have been rushed and did not reflect the opinions of American consumers.
Why can three people decide the fate of millions? Why can three people decide upon giving almost unlimited power to Internet providers? Are they trying to kill of small business and freedom of speech? FCC ignored the opinions of the majority of Americans and is definitely a low-point for the USA.
Average American surfers are not the only ones outraged or disappointed. Owners of successful business are also finding this decision difficult to believe.
“We are incredibly disappointed that the FCC voted this morning – along partisan lines – to remove protections for the open internet. This is the result of broken processes, broken politics, and broken policies,” stated Mozilla, while representatives of Facebook, Netflix, Google do not hide their frustration as well.
The EFF tweeted that “The FCC’s decision to abandon its traditional role in protecting an open and free Internet will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in Internet policy history.” While harsh, EFF’s statement perfectly depicts reality.
Source: theverge.com.
