Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NEUTRALITY
Matthew Johnson
Abstract
This paper will cover the controversial subject of net neutrality. Internet Service
Providers are attempting to control the internet by enacting fast lanes. These lanes will allow
ISPs to draw funds from both ends and have censorship of the internet. This is a violation of net
neutrality, and people must cry out to prevent the internet from descending to a censored space.
This report will research methods on how to prevent internet fast lanes.
Methodology
News articles To cover the issue of internet fast lanes, I utilized information from news
websites such as USA Today, The New York Times, Arstechnica, and The Economist. These
websites covered several events regarding net neutrality including, but not limited to, comments
by Barack Obama and Michael Copps and Internet Slowdown Day. The information gathered
from these sources help show the undesirable effects of losing the battle of net neutrality. They
also bring light to what can happen when people band together and reach out.
Matthew Johnson
Professor Robert Arnold
English 2116
November 11, 2014
Introduction
The internet is a place for free speech and content creation. It is also a place for users to
share their creations with a large audience from around the world. Internet Service Providers;
however, would like to see an end to the fair and free distribution of content to users. To try to
gain more power over the web, ISPs have pushed a proposal to allow themselves to impose
internet fast lanes. These fast lanes will allow them to impede service for content providers that
do not pay an extra fee directly to the ISP. If said fast lanes were implemented, it would give
ISPs censorship of the internet and allow them to draw income from both ends of the service (the
user and the content provider).
To find a solution to save net neutrality, I have researched into the effects people can
have on contacting their representative or senator and commenting on the Federal
Communications Commission website. Some efforts are already underway. The recent Internet
Slowdown Day had very positive results with large amounts of people contacting their
representatives and commenting on the FCCs website. These two solutions, when implemented
on a large scale, can have very desirable effects. To solve the issue of internet fast lanes and
protect the neutrality of the net, I propose that the community and users of the internet cry out
and comment on the protection of net neutrality.
How content will reach the user once that provider has paid the ISP a
premium fee.
Conclusion
The battle for net neutrality has been a long-enduring fray. Past acts such as SOPA and
PIPA that threatened to censor the internet were eventually shot down due to the voice of the
citizens. These new fast lanes are a similar issue. There is still a long road ahead, but the outcry
has already caused political figures to enter the fray in favor of net neutrality, such as President
Obama and former commissioner Michael Copps. If people keep reaching out against these fast
lanes, I believe when the smoke clears, the internet will still be a space of free speech and
equality.
Works Cited
Brodkin, Jon. "Make ISPs into "common Carriers," Says Former FCC Commissioner." Ars
Technica. Ars Technica, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://arstechnica.com/techpolicy/2014/01/drop-regulatory-hammer-on-internet-providers-says-former-fcccommish/>.
Carr, David. "Warnings Along F.C.C.s Fast Lane." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 11 May 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/business/media/warnings-along-fccs-fastlane.html?_r=0>.
H, M. "Faux Go-slow." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 16 Oct.
2014. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2014/09/net-neutrality>.
Snider, Mike, and Roger Yu. "Obama's Net Neutrality Push Cheers Some, Riles Others." USA
Today. Gannett, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/11/10/president-obama-net-neutralityreaction/18797601/>.