Neutrality Day of Action

Today has been declared Net Neutrality Day of Action. Net neutrality is a concept that many may be unfamiliar with and may not get excited about even if they were aware. It is the concept that content on the Internet is treated the same by the system no matter the source. Mostly, it prevents ISPs from forwarding content at different speeds depending on the type of content or the source. Neutrality was originally enforced by the FCC to prevent providers (mostly cable or phone companies) from prioritizing their own interests. For example, phone companies might want to slow VOIP communication (voice over IP) because VOIP competes with traditional phone communication. Cable companies who wanted also provide movies might want to slow video from other sources.

The present administration and its pro-business mentality propose that neutrality is a barrier to business innovation and suggests that natural competition will take care of improper practices. Both arguments are disputed. More than half of US citizens don't have access to multiple options for high speed access so the natural competition argument makes little sense for citizens using the Internet under such circumstances. The original Internet allowed online opportunities for anyone. This equality is being eroded as a few large companies have taken over.  Companies may dominate because of efficiency and ease of use (e.g., Facebook), but the opportunity for all participants has remained (Note - Facebook supports net neutrality). Now the FCC has reversed the earlier position on equality of treatment. Support for business argument could be interpreted in a very different way. What chance do new companies have against companies that are already wealthy and can prevent new companies from gaining a foothold.

Today companies and activists supporting net neutrality are urging citizens to take action and contact the FCC.

Some organizations have devised ways for supporters of neutrality to bring this issue to the attention of the public and urge their input. WordPress is the most popular blog software in existence (this particular blog does not run on WordPress software). Automattic, the company responsible for WordPress, has created a plugin users running WordPress applications can use to bring attention to the neutrality issue. I have installed this software on another of my blogs. Anyone visited this blog today (July 12) will experience a very slow response and see a message related to the neutrality issue. This is a temporary way to bring attention to the issue.

Your ISP is not the Internet. It is only the company you use to provide access to the Internet backbone and to the content provided by others. As a content provider, I have no say in what ISPs do, but their decisions may influence the experience my readers have. Consider this issue on a much larger scale and you may appreciate why many object to the FCC deciding that some companies may be prioritized over individuals and other companies.