Well the senate is debating a bill that will end net-neutrality. What’s net-neutrality?
Here’s a little background…
The Internet has some de facto rules. These rules basically state…
1) All web sites must be treated equally by your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
2) If a web site want’s to be faster, the owners of that web site must buy a fatter pipe (faster connection) to the Internet.
These rules are known as net-neutrality. This has led to the explosive growth of the Internet. This has been a key incentive to innovations (like Internet phones) that lower the cost of doing business. But…
Bad things are happening!
Right now AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, and other large ISPs are trying to change the rules. They want to…
1) Stop treating all web sites equally.
They want the ability to force web sites to pay more for the types of content they have. For example…
If a web site has a video, that web site owner must pay the most. Or
If a web site has audio, they pay a different rate.
ISPs also want the right to setup special deals with certain companies. For instance…
You get on the Internet but you can’t visit Google or Audioholics any more. Why? Because Yahoo and Stereophile setup an exclusive deal with your ISP, now you can’t access the sites you want.
This essentially gives big ISPs the ability to censor the Internet as they see fit.
2) They want to create a “fast lane” on the internet.
This allows them to give priority to web sites that pay them the most.
This destroys net-neutrality. Now small companies and individuals can not compete with larger companies. If you don’t have the money to pay off the ISPs, your site will take longer to load and navigate.
But the government won’t let this happen – right?
Think again! Many senators are trying to give control of the Internet to the large ISPs.
Those with big business interests (meaning the senators who get tons of ca$h from AT&T and others) say net-neutrality is not an issue. They say they don’t know what net-neutrality means.
Just about every one else sees the threat to net-neutrality as a very big problem.
The bottom line…
If these laws pass, the Internet will change for the worse.
And if they pass, remember to thank your senator for screwing up a good thing.
For more info, see…
www.savetheinternet.com
Enjoy,
Panther
