Net Neutrality and Business Before drawing an opinion on this matter, it is important to know exactly what “net neutrality” is… well, was. Before the U.S. appeals court ruling, internet service providers were required to provide equal access to all content, applications, and information on the web. Put very simply, the FCC wanted to officially establish full net neutrality rules completely determined on their own while Verizon, among other service providers, wanted to be able to determine what can or cannot be viewed through their service. The court ruled in favor of the service providers, stating that individual providers now have the freedom to choose which websites and other web content can or cannot be viewed through their service. Like most things, the ruling has its pros and cons. Some choose to look at it as a beneficial move that boldly restricts the FCC’s potential power over the internet’s content. Some choose to look at it in a more cynical lens, saying that service providers will only use the ruling to block content from their users and fill their pockets doing so. Without a doubt, a good majority of us have at least skimmed through articles about this. With so many voices shouting all over the internet, all sides have been presented about the issue. Regardless of the opinions presented, many of these articles tend to preach a “gloom and doom” message, suggesting that the internet as we know it is dead. The internet is not going to die. It might, however, get a bit more complicated. And expensive. As a user, your service provider can now determine which sites they will or will not allow you to view. This can be done either by completely blocking certain sites, making them load slower than normal, or charging a fee in order to access whichever websites you were previously unable to get. If service providers decide to follow this example, your internet service could become very similar to your television service. Providers could require the purchase of a “package” of websites instead of payments for each site that a user would actually use. As a business owner, you may be required to pay extra money to various service providers in order to keep your website on their “available” list, if service providers choose to make that a requirement. Please remember that these are only a few examples of what might happen. At this point, nothing is fully set in stone. Providers could choose to use the ruling in order to put a chokehold on their customers through strict contracts and regulations on what can and cannot be searched. Providers could also find themselves competing with each other for the lowest prices and most available content, ultimately giving end users the advantage over available providers. The next few months could hold some crucial moments that could forever change the way we use the internet. Check back in the coming weeks for updates on the outcomes of this ruling, and what they mean to users and business owners. By: Alec England, Columnist, The Site Vamp thesitevamp/net-neutrality/
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 03:00:00 +0000
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