Net Neutrality

David M. Templeton

Net Neutrality is the philosophy that all data sent over the internet should be transmitted in a "blind" manner, that the data should not be prioritized or not permitted to flow based on its data type. As good as this philosophy is for consumers and free speech issues, many corporations and organizations are against the practice.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) are against Net Neutrality, because they want peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic to either be throttled-down in speed or not allowed completely, in order to protect against copyright infringement. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like AT&T and Comcast are against Net Neutrality, because being able to throttle their users' internet connections will allow them to spend less on infrastructure upgrades if they can lessen the amount of data flowing over their networks. Hardware companies such as Cisco are against Net Neutrality because they sell hardware designed to throttle internet traffic. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is against Net Neutrality because they would like the ability to tell certain ISPs to throttle certain types of traffic based on intelligence or security reasons.

There are many groups for Net Neutrality, however. Google needs it because, as a content deliverer, it relies on users being able to access its content freely. Apple is also pro-net neutrality because of all of the data it "sells" to customers, as audio or video downloads on the iTunes store. Non-net neutrality can affect this, because ISPs can hurt competition by hurting Apple movie download traffic, thus encouraging users to use TV on-demand services. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is pro-net neutrality because they fight for free speech issues on the internet.

Net neutrality is one of the most important battles in the current epoch of the digital age, because the internet as we know it - with its ability to access a wide range of content without impunity - is at danger.