We Must Act Now to Preserve Net Neutrality: Opinion

We are getting closer and closer to losing the freedom that the Internet gives all of us on a daily basis. For those of you who are still a little unfamiliar with what net neutrality is and how is affects you, there's a great article here from wisegeek.com that explains this topic very well. Basically, if the Internet were open and neutral, ISP's, serarch providers (like Google or Yahoo) and telecommunications companies (like Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T, etc.) would not be allowed to restrict or filter a user's access to specific sites. This will make it possible for, let's say, a small online auction company to have the same access to customers as Ebay. Also, it won't let the same companies to unfairly restrict access to rival companies, like AOL not letting you subscribe to Yahoo mail because you have an account with AOL.

Worst Case Scenario for Net Neutrality Advocates

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read this article. For those of us who believe net neutrality is important for a slew of reasons, this is maddening. It pictures a slide from a marketing webinar put on by Allot Communications and Openet and describes how companies (like AT&T and Verizon, who are both on their client rosters) can charge users different rates for visiting different sites. They can even scan encrypted packets to determine which sites you are using! I there is something that is the exact opposite of net neutrality, this is it. If this is allowed, what's stopping the same companies from forcing (or persuading by slow or unreliable connections, for instance) customers to use the sites carriers want you to use?


If you want to do something about the issue of net neutrality, you can go to Commoncause.org and do something about it. We must make sure practices like this are not allowed to go on!


Click here to visit Engadget's website and read the article.