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“Net Neutrality” is basically the freedom of speech for the internet. It means that large companies and internet service providers -ISPs (such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast) cannot control what sites people can view and the capabilities of the pages that you view.
For example, a large ISP may have an investment or contract with a corporate website. To ensure that their investment receive web traffic, they can make sure that their customers all go to the corporate site faster and easier than a small startup site.
Why is this important to understand?
Some of your favorite sites, whether they are small blogs or college student startups, will be forcefully overrun by the controlling power of the ISP. By keeping the internet neutral, it ensures that all sites receive equal treatment from internet providers. This makes the internet a free market and lets the best win, rather than the big corporate sites taking control of our communal webspace.
What can you do?
The big ISPs are lobbying congress to eliminate net neutrality. They have already filed a statement of intent to do so, and congress is considering revising the telecommunications act to benefit these big lobbyists. This will hurt small businesses and people like you who use the internet for finding the best prices, the best information, and learn new things that aren’t controlled by the top, but rather created by individuals. It is important to be aware of your politicians stance on net neutrality, and demand that they understand what exactly net neutrality is.
You can read more about net neutrality here, and sign the petition.
