Net Neutrality

According to PC Magazine Encyclopedia, the term "net neutrality" is defined as "absence of restrictions or priorities placed on the type of content carried over the Internet by the carriers and ISPs that run the major backbones. It states that all traffic be treated equally; that packets are delivered on a first-come, first-served basis regardless from where they originated or to where they are destined." Basically, the concept of net neutrality is that all information posted on the internet is created equal and no ISP has the right to give priority of one content provider over another. It is not until recently, when large search engines such as Google and Yahoo! began to generate large amounts of internet traffic, causing ISP's to lobby for charging extra fees to sites with heavy traffic.

In theory, this seems like a good idea. If larger sites are generating more internet traffic and bogging down the network, it would make sense to charge them extra. However, if you consider the implications further down the road, this could cause major obstacles for both large and small websites and eventually causing all websites to have to pay what will probably be obscenely expensive fees just so that their websites won't be held back by being considered lower priority. It will also give internet providers far too much control over what is now considered a very free form of media. If internet providers have the power to charge fees to a website based on traffic, they will essentially be able to decide what can and cannot be put on the internet.

This cartoon illustrates the top concern surrounding those lobbying for net neutrality. If internet providers are allowed to charge websites money based on how much traffic they attract, they obviously own the internet. Since the internet is basically one of the only sources of free media that is available nowadays, it is no surprise that keeping the internet open and "free" to all is at the top of not only an individual's priorities, but also those of many special interest groups as well.

I personally found the following video very interesting purely for the fact that it takes an opposing viewpoint against net neutrality through reporter Glenn Beck. Now Glenn Beck is notorious for taking a very rightist view and this is clear from his report and interview with Phil Kerpen. He even goes so far to make the claim that net neutrality takes internet power away from ISP's and puts control of internet information flow in the hands of the government. Though I personally believe that his arguments are completely ludicrous and far-fetched, it is important to look at multiple sides of an issue and this video does just that.

The Free Press and the Free Press Action Fund is an organization dedicated to media reformation. This website is very informative and states that it takes a nonpartisan viewpoint on the media. The facts about net neutrality are represented in a clear, concise manner and the site even provides links to various other vital resources such as the Internet Preservation Act of 2009, the Comcast filings, the Savetheinternet.com Coalition, and even FCC rulings on the controversy so far. It also provides information on many other important issues at stake in the media today.