Normally I try to keep to pure technology news on this blog, but I believe this issue is important, probably more so than many of my clients realize. Net Neutrality is a simple issue made complex by sophisticated marketing, partisan politics and the fact that both sides have reasonable points. What’s currently at stake is this: the FCC, after previously passing rules in 2015 to “prohibit Internet providers from blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—”fast lanes” for sites that pay, and slow lanes for everyone else,” is now seeking to repeal those rules due to a dramatic shift in FCC leadership. Predictably, money supporting the repeal of these rules is coming from ISPs, and they are spending a lot of money to lobby for Net Neutrality to NOT be protected.
Fortunately for consumers, many of the internet companies we use everyday (Spotify, Netflix, Amazon, Dropbox to name a few) continue to fight for your right to unfiltered, unthrottled internet. July 12th has been named as a the “Day of Action” in support of Net Neutrality, and you may see sites all over the internet (like this one) sporting banners and images indicating that support. What are they asking you to do? Primarily, they are asking you to demonstrate your support by writing or calling your local congress-critter to let them know you are in favor of Net Neutrality and that FCC should reconsider their plans to repeal the rules that were established in 2015.
I believe it’s important for you to be aware of what’s at stake. The internet is an indispensable part of our lives both personally, professionally and politically whether we like it or not, so issues that affect your access and use of it should not be taken for granted. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with Net Neutrality if only to understand what’s happening on the internet on July 12.
