Why is Net Neutrality important?
Let’s go back to the beginning and set out the case for Net Neutrality. Under the leadership of President Barrack Obama, the Internet was classified as a utility in the same way as electricity, water and gas are treated by local, state, and federal government agencies. This means Internet Service Providers or ISP’s have no right to provide different services to consumers based purely on their appearance, business sector, or the size of a company; following the election victory of President Donald Trump, high-level talks are said to have begun almost immediately to discuss ways of eliminating net neutrality regulations.
If the U.S. is to remain the land of the free and allow small business owners the chance to grow and thrive in the nation Online it is important net neutrality laws remain in place. Without these laws introduced by President Obama, the Internet in the U.S. could become reminiscent of the Wild West with ISP’s charging customers for data prioritization at a rate only large businesses could afford.
What is data prioritization?
Andrew Knight New Canaan explains data prioritization as a system by which companies are charged to have their particular Website or app running at the highest possible speed. Internet Service Providers would be given the chance to work with major companies to improve the speed at which their Website or app runs while limiting the speed of a small business looking to grow and build its customer base. Data prioritization fees would be charged to speed up the app or site of a small business and allow them to compete with major stores on a level playing field.
Extra fees have been considered in the past by ISPs including AT&T, who Forbes states considered charging extra fees to its customers looking to use Apple’s FaceTime app over their network. One of the major stumbling blocks to breaking down net neutrality laws is the fact local governments sell cable and phone line access to individual companies and bar access to their area for other ISPs limiting customer choice in any city or region.
No single ISP is available
Imagine you are running your own small business and have decided to bring Online a new app you believe will have the ability to make a large amount of money. You carefully complete the research and development phase for your app before deciding to explore the opportunities available in going live with a new technology you have great faith in. Entrepreneur reports the problem you may face is going live in your local area without net neutrality protections could see your small business charged a data prioritization fee or your new piece of software will be slowed down or not given enough data to run smoothly by the local ISP. If you pay the data prioritization fee and your app is a success you will want to take it to a national stage where there is nothing stopping further ISPs from charging their own data prioritization fees to provide high-quality access.
Basically, there will be less choice for consumers.
Among the work done to provide net neutrality by those appointed by President Obama are guidelines to halt the collection of data from various sources including social media and an individuals search history. By not allowing the collection of data to be done on a regular basis and data prioritization fees not to be charged the individual small business is being permitted to fight for customers on the same playing field as big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Andrew Knight New Canaan believes the loss of net neutrality would result in ISPs working alongside major stores and software developers at the detriment of small business owners who would have little to no opportunity to fight for their right to develop their own business.
