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Essay / A Controversy Over Net Neutrality in the United States
The Internet is one of the greatest things humanity has ever created. It allows everyone to access all the information they want without any hesitation. His ability to teach, connect and provide for people is unparalleled. This is all because of something called net neutrality. Net neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers, or ISPs, should grant equal access to all information available on the Internet. This means that ISPs like Verizon, Comcast or AT&T cannot regulate, block or slow down what you want to view. Regardless of their popularity or broadband usage, all sites are treated the same. In addition to all sites being treated fairly, customers are not charged extra to access certain websites or types of data. In the United States, the Internet is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC. Although there is no official bill regarding net neutrality, the FCC created six principles of net neutrality in 2010. These principles essentially prevented ISPs from blocking or slowing down certain websites and allowed all sites to have equal access to the consumer. Since 2010, these rules have been followed by ISPs, but they have started to lose ground since President Trump took office. As president, Trump chose Ajit Pai, a strong advocate of net neutrality, as chairman of the FCC who, as president, began trying to dismantle net neutrality rules. Even though the vast majority of Americans support net neutrality, it is still a highly controversial topic regarding government involvement in businesses. Net neutrality allows the Internet to be the only place where everyone is truly equal, but it is the search for a balance of power between consumer and provider that makes it so controversial. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay As mentioned earlier, net neutrality is the principle that all information on the Internet should be treated the same. Customers pay their ISPs to access the Internet. They don't pay them to act as an information blockade that only allows people to see what they want. Dismantling net neutrality would allow companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T, which are essentially monopolies, to grant hand-picked priority access to certain consumers or websites. Undoubtedly, whoever paid more would likely get better access. If net neutrality were to disappear, some ISPs could charge certain content providers more. Essentially, whoever has the most money gets the best access. ISPs could slow down sites of their choice or even block them. Under the old FCC rules, this couldn't happen. All information on the Internet would be provided equally regardless of which consumer accessed it. Now that these rules have been abolished, an ISP could limit what the consumer sees as long as they disclose it. Although they are required to disclose information about the sites they restrict, this may only be a small asterisk in their terms and conditions and may be ignored by the vast majority of users. Net neutrality only governs the availability of information that an ISP grants to its consumers, it does not control Internet speeds for customers who pay more money. Like anything, Net Neutrality has its advantages and disadvantages.disadvantages. People have a right to the Internet without the ISP acting like a parent, monitoring and blocking what one can and cannot see. Some opponents of net neutrality say it could have several negative effects on communications in the United States. Although net neutrality may seem great at first glance, it does have some drawbacks. According to ISPs, sites that use a lot of data, like Netflix and YouTube (mainly transmitting videos), slow down the transmission speed of all information. Since everyone has to pay the same amount no matter how much bandwidth they use, a big company like Netflix, which uses more than 30% of the country's bandwidth, doesn't have to pay more. This requires consumers to pay for significant infrastructure upgrades so that companies like Netflix can continue streaming. Instead of the company using all the space paying, the people have to do it. Whether or not they use Netflix, all customers must pay for content to be streamed. Since they use more bandwidth, less information can be carried over the cable they built. ISPs claim that if they charged these sites more, they would have enough money to be able to build a new system to transmit this information quickly. This may be considered unfair. Using less, but paying the same price as another company that uses 10 times more data may not be a good thing at all. Although net neutrality has some disadvantages, it also has many advantages. The Internet was designed to make everyone equal. Everyone's voices are heard and everyone can see what they want to see. It follows the same format as the telecommunications system. Everyone can communicate with everyone, regardless of your provider. Proponents of net neutrality say it helps small businesses get a foot in the door when it comes to the consumer. For example, if someone was looking for flowers to sell, they would not only get information from a large company, but also from a local florist. If businesses blocked the local florist's information because a company like 1800flowers.com can afford to pay ISPs more, then the local florist could lose business. In addition to allowing small businesses to benefit from a level playing field with multi-billion dollar companies, these multi-billion dollar companies also support net neutrality. A company like Netflix, which streams movies and uses the most bandwidth, cannot be charged more by an ISP for using more space. By and large, everyone is in favor of net neutrality except the ISPs. The latter seem to be the only ones to oppose Net neutrality. As a major competitor to Comcast, Netflix has been a victim of throttling on their part. Before 2015, Comcast slowed down Netflix speeds unless it paid more to have its data transmitted faster. To speed up one transmitter, you must slow down another. Small businesses wouldn't be able to keep up with larger companies that can afford to pay for faster speeds. Additionally, raising prices does not guarantee faster transmission. ISPs say this new revenue would be used to improve their Internet infrastructure. This may not be the case. Nothing stops ISPs from taking all that money and distributing it to their shareholders. After all, they are monopolies. They can do almost anything they want. With.