Networking
What is Net Neutrality Day?
Tomorrow, July 12th, is Net Neutrality Day of Action. This is when the some of the world’s largest tech companies including Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc will predominantly place content on their websites talking about Net Neutrality.
Will this slow down my Internet? No. Your internet surfing will be the same as always, except for more ads primarily focused on Net Neutrality.
What is Net Neutrality? To boil this down to basic terms, it stops Internet providers like Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, from speeding up or slowing down your access to websites or applications. Without Net Neutrality some argue the Internet would be a very different place. There would be fast and slow lanes, they could block content if they disagreed with it, it would stop being open like it is now. Verizon for example could speed up Netflix for its customers and slow down Amazon Prime Video because Netflix pays more money. This isn’t overly good for users and can be stifling for new companies that cannot pay every provider to speed them up. For example, YouTube would never have become popular if Internet providers charged more for streaming videos and therefore it was constantly buffering videos.
Why would these companies support Net Neutrality when it helps them? There are a lot of reasons. One reason is that it costs them more money, as they would now have to pay money to each Internet provider. But a second reason is that it is how they became big in the first place. They want to encourage innovation, as that is not only how they grow, but others also. If Internet providers can slow down access to their site for any reason, then what content they show will be dictated by the Internet providers. They hope that by bringing this issue to light, it allows people to make an informed choice on what is concerning by repealing the current Net Neutrality laws.
The Net Neutrality Day of Action, also dubbed The Battle for the Net, has a website that will show you all the companies that are participating in the tomorrows protest.
If you want to know more about Net Neutrality here is a good 2 minutes or less website that allows you to view both sides pretty well. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-net-neutrality-debate-in-2-minutes-or-less/