Net neutrality has been an ongoing debate for the last decade.

Recently it
has been decided by the FCC to keep the Internet open and free. The idea of
Internet neutrality is to make it so consumers can make their own decisions about
what applications and services on the Internet they use, and are able to decide
what content they want to access create and share. It also makes it possible for
anyone to create and share their own applications and services with others. This
creates an open competition environment for anybody, not just the companies or
people that have more money. To make it clear I am in favor of Internet neutrality, a
free and open Internet.
Without net neutrality Internet service providers or ISPs would have control
of what you can and cannot view on the Internet as well as creating fast and slow
lanes. They could slow down their competitors content or block content that the ISP
does not want you to view. In my opinion this would destroy the open Internet.
President Barack Obama pledged support for net neutrality to protect a free and
open Internet in 2007, and has continued to show support through his presidency. I
am a strong supporter of net neutrality what youve been seeing is some lobbying
that says the servers and the various portals through which you getting information
over the Internet should be able to be gatekeepers and to charge different rates for
different websites and I think that destroys one of the best things about the
Internet Barack Obama. In 2010 the FCC introduced strong protections that said
ISPs cannot block websites or impose limits on consumers. In 2011, a few weeks
after the FCC adopted those rules, Verizon communications filed a federal lawsuit
that would eventually overturn such rules. As of January 14, 2014 a federal appeals
court finally strikes down the FCCs rules from 2010. This is where the real fight for
Internet neutrality begins. The day after the court struck down the FCCs 2010 rule
a user created a petition toward the Obama administration to restore the Internet
neutrality by directing the FCC to classify Internet providers as common carriers.
This petition went on to be signed by over 100,000 people. Unfortunately in the
White Houses response they made it clear that they couldnt direct and
independent agencies rulemaking, although they showed continued support for a
free and open Internet. In May 2014 the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking
on the Internet regulatory structure. This was a time when the public could submit
comments on these rules. Even Barack Obama submitted a comment. I personally,
the position of my administration, as well as a lot of the companies here, is that you
dont want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the Internet is to
different users. You want to leave it open so the next Google and the next Facebook
can succeed. In September the FCCs comment period came to a close as nearly 4
million people file public comments on net neutrality. This was a record for the FCC
as it has never received so many comments on any other issue. On November 10,
2014 Pres. Obama called on the FCC to take up the strongest possible rules to
protect Internet neutrality, he agreed that Internet service providers should treat all
Internet traffic equally. The FCC voted in favor of a strong net neutrality rule to keep
the Internet open and free on February 26, 2015. The new rules, rooted in title II of
the Communications Act, ban throttling, blocking and paid prioritization.
Unfortunately over time this battle will continue as the Internet service providers
and their allies in the government will do everything they can to dismantle the rules

set in place. But for now we can rest easy knowing that the Internet is not going to
be controlled by Verizon, Comcast, or any other service provider.
It is clear that Internet neutrality is important for not just me, but for anyone
who uses the Internet. Without it you would not able to access your favorite
websites or watch a movie on Netflix without paying an extra fee. You would also be
unable to access websites that your Internet service provider doesnt want you to
see or has content that they discriminate against. In short, Internet service
providers would rather destroy the Internet as we know it. But thanks to millions of
people, and the FCC, it seems like net neutrality is the winning side. At least for
now.

Sources
1. Chappell, B. (2015, February 26). FCC Approves Net Neutrality Rules For
'Open Internet' Retrieved March 3, 2015, from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389259382/net-neutralityup-for-vote-today-by-fcc-board
2. Open Internet. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from
http://www.fcc.gov/openinternet