It’s been nearly two years since the Federal Communications Commission repealed Net Neutrality, the doctrine that assured all users of the Internet would be treated equally with regard to access speeds, access to content, and standardized pricing structures. When they did that, they opened the doors to allowing the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to create a slow lane for some users, like you and me. According to those who monitor these things, those slow lanes have arrived and it is likely that you are in one.
Apparently, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile are now throttling streaming speeds on video services including YouTube and Netflix. And this may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of where we are headed. Northwestern University researchers found AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint knocking down video speeds to 480p. There is further evidence that telecom providers have abused net neutrality since President Trump’s FCC chair Ajit Pai finalized the repeal in 2017.
It seems AT&T is driving customers to its owned subsidiary, DirecTV by putting data caps on services like Netflix. Likewise, Sprint throttled-down Skype to push customers to its own voice/video service. This trend might presage a world without Net Neutrality where these giant companies own the entire eco-system, from content creation to delivery (and more) — with the ability to control all we see and do online, charging whatever they like for doing so. But even now, it is not too late to do something to restore a free and open Internet.
Occasionally, we are more than an educational newsletter, such as today when we are advocating action. “Save the Internet Act” has passed in the House of Representatives and is currently awaiting consideration in the Senate. This Senate, led by Mitch McConnell even voted last year to restore Net Neutrality. We now encourage all of you readers to contact your Senators to let them know if this issue is a concern to you and if so, that you’d like them to pass the bill.
Additionally, we can sign the petition requesting all Presidential candidates pledge to uphold Net Neutrality if elected. It may be hard to envision the results of this kind of grassroots action, but we have seen it work on numerous issue (especially as relates to the Net) over the years. Let’s see if we can do this for good.
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