Net Neutrality

Speaking about Net Neutrality with your friends and family is your civic duty this week - today we're going to run down how to do it. Whether you're back to your parents house this holiday season or hosting Thanksgiving yourself, there's a few very simple arguments that you're honor-bound as a citizen of these internets to share with your fellow turkey-devourers. What better way to be thankful for your rights as a United States citizen then by informing your fellow citizens about the death of the internet as we know it?

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Today Trump-installed FCC chairman Ajit Pai released his plan to destroy Net Neutrality. It's worse than we thought it might be. Yesterday we went over the Trump Administration's 3-point plan to steal internet from poor people and cut all rules from internet provider businesses. Today we're seeing that the plan cuts much more than what we assumed it would.

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Three moments in time, all within the last couple of months, all add up to one thing: current FCC leadership wants to keep poor people off the internet and give ISPs complete control over the internet. Current head of the FCC Ajit Pai suggested multiple times over the past year that the First Amendment should apply to internet service providers, and as such, they should be allowed to control every aspect of the internet they provide. Never mind the fact that the Net Neutrality rules Pai is dismantling were put in place to protect citizens from the internet companies Pai is fighting for.

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There's a good number of reasons why a company should support Net Neutrality, and a couple why an individual like yourself should, too. Over the past several years, I've come to realize that the Internet is not an essential element in day-to-day life, and because of this, it should not be treated like the other basic utilities like electricity or water. Only those who have the most money should be able to afford the best brand webpages on the Internet - just like health care! ***

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Lines have once again been drawn. Posters and signs once again put up. Voices and arms raised once more on both sides. Yes, it's time again for the great Net Neutrality debates as tech companies call supporters to arms. What was presumed to be a done deal is in danger of being overturned with the turning of the guard. While the final word, legally speaking, will come down to a vote, the debate will carry on and on, long after the vote has been cast. And it is a debate that might not have a clear answer in sight for a long time.

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The most important news today - the most important topic for the Internet, on the Internet, is about Net Neutrality. Today the biggest and most influential websites on the internet are pushing the FCC together to stop the FCC from giving in to pressure to end Net Neutrality and destroy the open web. If Net Neutrality is killed, readers like YOU will experience web speed throttling, widespread website censorship, and the inevitable rise of micro-fees for access to individual services.

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It seems that the fight for net neutrality is back on, and just like last time, John Oliver is trying to rally people to the cause. In a segment during Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight, Oliver lambasted the new FCC chairman Ajit Pai as he looks to rollback Obama-era net neutrality protections. With the FCC now accepting comments from the public on the matter, it seems John Oliver saw a chance to strike.

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As you've likely heard by now, Congress voted earlier this week to reverse FCC rules that prevented internet service providers from selling personal customer data like browsing history. Understandably, many Americans are upset by this. Now several ISPs like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon are getting proactive in reassuring customers that their privacy matters, releasing statements that say they will not be selling users' internet browsing data.

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Right through December of last year, the FCC had ongoing investigations into telecom giants including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile over their use of zero-rated data services, viewing them anti-competitive and in violation of net neutrality rules. Unfortunately, these investigations were opened under outgoing FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, and part of President Trump's restaffing has been appointing Ajit Pai as the new head. In turn, the agency has also revealed that it's dropping the investigations.

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Before this year’s presidential elections became the major factor dividing the US tech industry, it was “net neutrality” that split camps along lines of for or against. And if you thought the (legal) battle is over, you are definitely wrong. Although the FCC already ruled in favor of net neutrality last year, the changing of the guards opens up the real possibility, nay an explicit objective even, of undoing all that. The net neutrality debates are about to be reignited and, whichever side of the camp you stand on, the results will inevitably affect everyone.

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This week the FCC sent letters to both AT&T and Verizon, stating that zero-rated data — plans and services that don't count against users' monthly allotment — is a violation of net neutrality rules. For AT&T, this applies to their new DirecTV Now streaming video service, and for Verizon it's their own Go90 video service. The FCC's wireless communications chief Jon Wilkins wrote that the telecoms' practices "inhibit competition, harm consumers, and interfere with the ‘virtuous cycle’ needed to assure the continuing benefits of the Open Internet."

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Back in February, UK mobile carrier Three announced a pretty radical change. The company had partnered up with a startup named Shine to remove ads from mobile webpages. While they didn't have a lot of details at the time, we're finally getting some clarification on this initiative.

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