An Internet without open access requirements would be very limiting to the user. The nation's largest telephone and cable companies -- including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable -- want to control the Internet, deciding which Web sites go fast or slow and which won't load at all. This means tax on content providers, discrimination against competitors and blocking content.
Network Neutrality is a principle proposed for user access networks participating in the Internet that advocates no restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, on the on the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and on the modes of communication allowed, as well as communication that is not unreasonably degraded by other traffic.
An Internet without Net Neutrality would suck. Access to information would be restricted the values and issues that we care about--civil rights, economic justice, the environment and fair elections--will be further threatened. A few corporations would control the free market and consumer choices. It means the loss of our freedom of expression and innovation.
The phone and cable companies want to more economically manage their Internet services by limiting some peer-to-peer downloading, especially for music. Giant companies are being urged to meter individual subscriber usage by as an individual is online, they want to track what the user is doing and where they reside.
The groups that oppose Network Neutrality are the telecommunications and cable companies, election year legislators with telco and cable contributors, spokespersons for telcos and cable companies, and editorial staffs with parent companies heavily involved in the cable industry.
Those for it are business owners, content providers and people like you and me. People who use the internet for information, communication, entertainment.
