Technophobia: Net Neutrality

By Sami Yerunkar, Student Life Editor

In this part of the column, I explore the meaning of net neutrality and the internet\’s place as a medium and as a public utility. Net neutrality describes the current state of the internet: it is neutral and unregulated by any single entity. Every ISP (internet service provider) in the United States is obligated to give their customers access to every part and every aspect of the internet.

You may ask how this has anything to do with the fear of technology. Many people in congress believe that a neutral internet is not a good thing because it gives its users too many choices and is far too unwieldy and complicated. They also mention issues such as access to all material, even that with questionable validity, and that the internet in its current form does not deny access to any content, appropriate or inappropriate, to anyone, including children.

The ISPs propose to offer tiered internet plans, similar to how household families today purchase tiered plans for cable television. You will basically be forced to buy access to different websites. The more you pay, the more websites you get access to.

It is very important to see the issues with scrapping net neutrality.  ISPs fuel special interest groups that goad these legislators into pushing anti-net neutrality laws. Even if you forget issues with lobbyists and special interest groups, you have to consider that removing net neutrality essentially allows ISPs to charge customers for something that they never had to pay for before. Lastly, it extinguishes the various small independent websites that exist to show the opinions of minority groups.

This mock tier chart below is an example of how a tiered plan could possibly look like. Notice how limited the access to websites is, and how much more expensive this is compared to a regular cable internet plan.

The only solutions to the problems internet users face today are simple and require willpower. Parents are responsible to regulate what content their children have access to, no matter what the medium. It is very simple to block websites that contain inappropriate material.

Researchers are liable for their own sources. It is important that every person verifies the origin of the content they are reading to make sure it is reliable. Even sources that have commonly been criticized for their reliability may not be as unreliable as previously thought. Studies show that Wikipedia, a publicly edited encyclopedia, is as reliable as the Encyclopedia Britannica, a privately edited and published encyclopedia that has existed since 1768, on topics such as medicine and physical sciences.

Taking all this into account, no person should advocate dropping net neutrality. It gives us freedom to publish and access information and unprecedented rates. Net regulation will serve no purpose but to dumb down the public and charge it more money over time.