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The issue of net neutrality is making rounds in the US from quit a long time now. The proposed set of rules aims at regulating all internet data and wants all of them to be treated equally.
On Wednesday, it dragged enough attention from the top websites that marked an Internet Slowdown protest, organized by ‘Fight for the Future’.
Major tech companies including Netflix, Mozilla, Kickstarter and Reddit and several activist groups launched their protest by including a slow-moving icon on their respective websites.
The companies aimed at giving a rough idea to the public to make them understand what could happen if the FCC doesn’t impose tougher regulations on internet data.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently drafting the net neutrality policy and for this it had also invited public feedback on the proposed set of rules.
Under the proposed policies, ISPs are barred from blocking any content and also suggest allowing few ‘commercially reasonable’ deals where content providers could pay ISPs in order encourage the delivery of their traffic.
A January 2014 a court verdict removed the protections that kept the web accessibility open, while allowing the user privacy and individual choice.
The FCC’s 2010 ruling on net neutrality has been blocked by the courts but experts say it doesn’t mean that the law is against net neutrality but the court doesn’t believe that the federal body could properly regulate open Internet.
The tech experts say with the advent of net neutrality, those computer users who spend most of their time on the Internet will have to struggle a lot while waiting for certain sites to load, or checking their emails amid huge possibility of paying more for certain services.
Certain websites like Netflix will be extra charged by the ISPs to allow for faster services to their customers. Analysts say these extra costs will indirectly levy burden on the customers.
Companies and websites that participated in the ‘Battle for the Net’ Common Cause included:
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Tumblr
- Netflix
- Kickstarter
- Etsy
- Vimeo
- WordPress
- Digg
- Greenpeace
- Dropbox
- Meetup
Reactions
A Time.com article reads, “A coalition of tech companies and Open Internet activists claimed victory Wednesday evening after a day-long campaign, Battle for the Net, succeeded in swamping the federal government with millions of public comments demanding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) scrap its proposed rules governing net neutrality and write new ones.”
Anne Marie Squeo, Netflix public relations spokesperson, said in an email, “Consumers, not broadband gatekeepers, should pick the winners and losers on the Internet. Strong net neutrality rules are needed to stop Internet Service Providers from demanding extra fees or slowing delivery of content to consumers who already have paid for Internet access. Any FCC rules must ensure access to content without ISPs favoring, impeding or charging particular content companies.”
This week is expected to witness a lot of net neutrality activity as the September 15 deadline approaches for posting comments on FCC chairman Tom Wheeler’s open Internet proposal.
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