Net neutrality is a looming issue amongst Internet users everywhere. While the concept of a worldwide “neutral” Internet seems a tiny bit general in terms of understanding what the definition “Net Neutrality” really means, the premise is that all content the public views on the web is treated equally, and therefore “neutral”.
Our modern Internet for the most part has remained fairly “neutral” until just recently when the Government decided to examine the implications of a unbiased Internet. The investigation was launched majorly due to congestion issues on major sites such as Google and Yahoo!. The outcome of this net neutrality debate could result in such sites charging extra fees for users. Another option that the Government is considering is the idea of Internet service providers being able to supply multi-tiered plans costing more money to heavy users. This seems like a fair solution, provided that companies such as Bell and Rogers don’t jack up the costs to maximize their profit margin. Another online freedom threatened by this proposal, is the idea of a band on online file sharing, as streaming online video uses up massive amounts of bandwidth, which slows down the Internet as a whole. This option however would raise uproar amongst youth everywhere who live off downloading and sharing music and movies.
In my opinion the only way in which this issue could bother me is if major companies got greedy like they have in the past and take advantage of their power to control the price point at which people pay to stay connected. I have no problem paying a little extra for using search engines such as Google, because in my opinion everything has its price, I genuinely feel that society is fairly lucky to have gotten the most popular search engine on the web for free usage so far. As far as I’m concerned the Internet is going down the same road as the cell phone, starting with small charges, then getting away with larger taxes. As it is right now, I am used to it.
"Should the Government Regulate Net Neutrality?." Opposing Views. Web. 24 Nov 2009.
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