Net Neutrality

NOTE: This is an opinionated article. Do not treat this as a primary source or reliable news; instead, treat it like a blog post from a concerned individual.

Net neutrality prevents Internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon from blocking, throttling, or charging money for people attempting to access certain sites, apps, and services. ISPs allowed consumers to browse the free and open Internet, regardless of where the content is hosted.

On Thursday, the 14th of December 2017, the FCC in a 3-2 vote killed net neutrality rules put in place in 2015. This is, as put by YouTuber Philip DeFranco, "a dark day for innovation, small businesses, and consumers". The end of net neutrality means ISPs could charge more for access to specific sites and even censor content. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai thought that killing net neutrality would be beneficial for the Internet. The like-to-dislike ratio on Ajit Pai's PSA video released the day before the vote proves that consumers are not at all happy about this.

By supporting the death of net neutrality, Ajit Pai has become one of, if not the most despised persons on the Internet. I've seen several nasty tweets and memes about him from all over Twitter. Pai killed net neutrality despite strong public opposition from millions of people - even tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft were on the net neutrality bandwagon. He didn't listen to the people (including myself) who opposed his reckless measures - he gave us a metaphorical middle finger.

And there's no sign that it will be brought back to life anytime soon. The FCC Chairman wanted net neutrality dead from day one of him being appointed to the position, and I doubt he'll listen to the voices of countless protestors who support a free and open Internet full of innovation and creativity.

There is no denying that the Internet will experience change of humongous proportions for the worse. And unfortunately, both the FCC and the telecom companies who backed Pai will tell us to either put up or shut up.

To sum up this article, if you're not concerned about net neutrality now, you will be when your Internet and cable bills suddenly rise.

If there are any factual errors in this article, let me know in the comments and I will address them accordingly.