Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality, it is the principle that anything and everything on the Internet should be treated equally. This concept has been under a lot of scrutiny recently, and justifiably so. Major cable companies, Comcast and Verizon for example, are trying to implement Internet "fast lanes" for people who pay more money to be able to host their content more effectively. There are many reasons why Internet "fast lanes" are wrong, but I'll focus on just three: it sets up a barrier to entry for small businesses and start-ups, it will slow down Internet speeds for anyone who cannot afford to pay for a "fast lane," and it allows the cable companies to effectively censor the Internet.

The first argument I have against "fast lanes" is that it would prevent new businesses and start-ups who cannot afford to pay the outrageous fees from being able to get their new business off of the ground. The website startupsfornetneutrality.com states "The beauty of the Internet is that anyone with a computer and an Internet connection has the power to start a business and make an impact on the world. For those who are driven and passionate, the possibilities are endless." With Internet "fast lanes," only the well-established businesses who will be able to pay the fees will be able to use the Internet for advertising, sales, etc. Already we can see how allowing paid prioritization would shut down innovation as we know it. However, start-ups and small businesses aren't the only people who would be affected by this, every Internet user using a service provided by an ISP who implements fast lanes would be affected.

In order to produce a "fast lane," you have to slow down the rest of the traffic which would result in "slow lanes." This would be the equivalent of having a paid lane on a highway, where only people who pay large sums of money can use said lane. Forcing most of the traffic onto the only other lane and congesting it. This would shut down innovation even more by not allowing the users of the Internet to access valuable information in a timely manner. Which is the entire point of the Internet! In fact, not only would certain people not be able to access information in a timely manner, they might not be able to access that information at all.

By allowing the paid prioritization of the Internet, ISP's can throttle anyone they want to. For example, if I wrote an article condemning Comcast for their actions and people were trying to access my article. Comcast could slow down the speed of anyone trying to access my article to nearly 0. Effectively censoring the Internet as they see fit. This would destroy Free Speech on the Internet.

In conclusion, Net Neutrality needs to be preserved, because paid prioritization of the Internet would grant Cable Companies an exorbitant amount of power over the citizens they are providing the Internet to.