Net neutrality has been an incredibly important and controversial topic in recent months. So many of us use the internet for many important things on a daily basis–whether it be paying bills, completing work, or engaging in much needed Netflix-binging at the end of a long week. One of the great things about the internet is that in a lot of ways it’s a great equalizer–it doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a mansion or a library, using a brand new Ipad or a desktop that’s past its prime–we all have access. But an end to net neutrality threatens that implicit equality. Which is why a lot of people, including President Barack Obama, have said that they support net neutrality.
The debate over net neutrality revolves around another newly popular term–“internet fast lanes.” Essentially, internet fast lanes are when Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Comcast, for example, allow various companies to have faster “lanes” of bandwidth. To make it very simple, imagine you’re driving down a five lane highway. Anyone can get all the way into the left lane, the fastest lane, if they like. But then imagine you show up one day and there’s a toll you have to pay to get into that lane. Net neutrality prevents that from happening, and makes sure that a page from, say, Lawstreetmedia.com is able to load just as quickly as any other page. That’s an incredibly simplified version of what internet fast lanes would do, but for a great in depth explanation on net neutrality and internet fast lanes, make sure to check out fellow Law Streeter Eric Essagof’s piece.
A lot of people have argued against fast lanes, arguing that they’re predatory. Due to a series of court decisions, the Federal Communication Commission’s standing rules forbidding ISPs from making fast lanes no longer stand. So the FCC is writing new rules, and no one is entirely sure what they’ll do. Some think they’ll allow fast lanes, others thing that they’ll reclassify certain definitions to make sure that fast lanes aren’t able to become reality.
President Obama weighed in on the debate yesterday, saying:
My appointee, [FCC Chairman] Tom Wheeler, knows my position. Now that he’s there, I can’t just call him up and tell him exactly what to do. But what I’ve been clear about, what the White House has been clear about, is that we expect whatever final rules to emerge to make sure that we’re not creating two or three or four tiers of Internet.
Obama is echoing the sentiment that many people feel, that allowing internet fast lanes is unfair and will really just lead to more money in the pockets of ISPs. It also slows the amazing things that the internet has been able to do. The internet can connect people from all over the globe, and result in innovation and collaboration that would otherwise be near impossible. It can provide a ray of light for a kid somewhere that thinks that he or she is the only one with their particular interests or hobbies. It can provide sources of free education in places where good teachers are hard to come by. As Reed Hastings, a Netflix chief executive, so perfectly put it, “Why are so many people attracted to the concept of net neutrality? Because they fear the loss of the digital commons.” He’s absolutely right–those digital commons bring us closer to an equal playing field, and like Obama, I hope that the FCC remains devoted to net neutrality.
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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.
Featured image courtesy of [Free Press via Flickr]