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Net Neutrality: Despite the FCC Ruling, the Debate Continues
The idea behind net neutrality is that the flow of all data should be treated equally on the internet. Providers like Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon and others should not give special treatment to how packets of information move across the internet. The idea is that big business will pay to prioritize how their data moves and that providers can charge their subscribers more for faster connections. Everyone else will need to need to live with slower.
Andreas Gal, Mozilla’s chief technology officer and VP of mobile, said that net neutrality is “about ensuring a level playing field … and everyone gets the chance to compete for consumers. This is how the internet was born; this is why the internet became this successful: Because it was open.”
But there is also a strong argument against net neutrality. The problem with it is that some types of applications inherently need to have faster connections in order for the services to be at all usable, like high-speed video conferencing or better cellphone voice quality. These types of services really aren’t possible unless they can be provided at guaranteed high rates of data transfer.
Recently, after many years of debate, the FCC has passed rules that favor net neutrality. But the decision is far from final, far from it. Congress continues to debate it. And internet providers can’t agree on which side to take. Comcast is pro net neutrality, while Netflix is against it. Republicans have recently vowed to undo what the FCC has agreed to. And on the other side of the Atlantic, the EU is in the process of coming up with rules to allow net traffic to flow at different levels of priorities.
Some expect the debate on net neutrality to continue to rage for years to come, like into and through the 2016 election season.
