Net neutrality means:  A content producer cannot pay for preferential treatment on the network to deliver content faster to their consumers.  Also, a consumer can expect that all content delivered is not throttled and that paying more will not let any specific content to be made more available.  (I can’t pay more to add the “netflix” package to my internet connection”)

The topic of Net Neutrality has been discussed for years.  And for many of them, the movement has been generally in the “right” direction.  The internet is to remain open and non-discriminatory.  But lately the conversation started to hit judges dockets, and it hasn’t been going so well.

Recent FCC rulings (2010) had pointed in the right direction but didn’t strike a hard enough chord on the content provider rules… so the latest news out this month has some reversals on the language put forth in the aforementioned ruling.  These reversals are opening the door to allow providers like Netflix and Hulu to pay extra to make the rest of the internet slower.  Essentially.  If you open a fast-lane, all the rest of the traffic has less lanes to travel on.  So if they buy preferential treatment on, say, Mediacom, then all Mediacom’s customers will have GREAT Hulu speeds, but the rest of the traffic will suffer.

If the cost of entering the consumer’s home is high, this stifles new innovation (again, mentioned in the above 2010 ruling.)  Stifling innovation is not my cup of tea.  Discrimination is not my bag.  Squashing the little guy makes Brandon a dull boy…

So I learned about the debate and then I signed the petition to “save the internet”

Read the news that prompted this blog post here:http://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/press-release/public-knowledge-statement-on-updated-net-neutrality-rules.

Don’t let this be our future: