Net Neutrality--Yes this effects you!!!

Net neutrality, ever heard of it? If you haven't, I assure you that it is more important then the latest on Snookies visit to jail. In many ways, it is hard to exaggerate the importance of the debate on net neutrality simply because our lives rely so much on the internet.

Okay so what is net neutrality? The concept is actually not that difficult to understand.

The internet is a "free space" and area that provides equality to all people in the world. (This means that the internet does not limit peoples powers although countries can and do restrict peoples access to the internet). It is in this technological utopia where the information age really came out of its infancy and created offspring such as Google and Facebook. The internet is free because everything is treated equally, referred to as 'packets'. This translates to how the flow of data moves between your computer and the websites you browse. Although your speed is limited by your ISP (internet service provider), everyone with your style of internet connection is able to view websites equally quickly.

Let use an example to help illustrate what is happening. Devang and Anthony have the same laptop computer (we do actually thats kind of freaky). Devang and Anthony also have the same 100Mbps internet connection from the same ISP. We want to view two websites, Blog a and Blog b. Blog a is a small personal blog with no followers and very limited content. Blog b is a huge megalith, with dynamic content, advertisement and much much more. Blog b also hosts free ads for the ISP. If Devang and Anthony were going to view blog a and blog b, the data (packets) would flow at the same speed regardless of the fact that Blog b is providing a benefit to the ISP. That is net neutrality, and it is what allows content to be equally accessible by all.

No I am not exaggerating 

In the business sense, helping blog b would be better for the ISP because they could barter for more money from those who pay. To do this, blog b would be given a "clear connection" while blog a would not. So the ISP would physically hold the packets coming from blog a to let blog b go on, which would speed up b and slow down a.

This issue has come up frequently in the past few years as the ISP's battle the content providers over the issue. Major telecommunications companies such as At&t as well as ISP's are against net neutrality, because it is a potential cash cow! Think about it, lets say the net neutrality rules were abolished, that means a company like At&t (which basically owns all of the freaking fiber optic cables in the bloody country) could basically control what search engines would be able to be the fastest on there networks based off of who could pay the most. The search engine that would win would be Google and just like that your options would be limited. In addition, a company could limit a websites speed (like Facebook or this blog) simply because they do not agree with the content or again because the site could not afford "premium" speeds.

Net neutrality is one of those topics that never really makes it into the main stream media even though its effects are so wide spread. Senator John McCain has also been actively pursing legislation against net neutrality, so this is not simply an issue debated by your local Geek Squad crew.

So what do you take away from this? Simple KEEP YOURSELF INFORMED ABOUT THIS ISSUE. ITS THE THINGS THAT WE TAKE FOR GRATED THAT EFFECT US ALL THE MOST!!!!

Cheers
--Devang