Net Neutrality
EFF to FCC: Defend the Neutral Internet:
Agency Must Abandon Dangerous Traffic-Discrimination Plan
The Internet is a network of networks. People often talk about it as the cloud today, but that is a marketing term. It is the same Net we businesses and people became familiar with in the 1990s. The Internet is super important to my business and yours too. The entire technology sector is dependent on it. The Net is a critical part of our daily work lives.
Net Neutrality is a term applied to how Internet service providers control the flow of information. Net Neutrality is occasionally confused with Net Privacy and Net Security. Those are other topics about which we should be concerned, but not included in this short piece. If people don’t speak up now, the free flow of data across the Net could change for ever.
The FCC is debating rules changes that could change how we see the world wide web.
Big telecoms AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and others are at the center of the Net Neutrality issue. Over the past 15 years the big companies have gobbled up small ISPs (Internet Service Providers), so that the industry is consolidated in the hands of a few giant corporations. Their throttling of content, metering bandwidth and tiered pricing will affect us all, especially streaming content providers like Netflix, Amazon and Google. Ultimately we will all be effected here in the United States if the FCC rules allow the large communication providers to shutter the web and control the flow of data. They should not be allowed to control what we see any more than repressive regimes like China or Iran control what people see there.
No discussion of Net Neutrality should go without mention of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-fcc-defend-neutral-internet. The eff.org has been fighting this battle a long time. Test Tube a property of Discovery Digital Network published this cool video this morning, by Tara Long – @taralongest
ISP’s throttling content is not a new problem. Although the industry consolidation in the last few years makes it more of a concern. Individuals own the component networks, not the communications service providers. Net Neutrality is the best way to insure that no one is in control of the flow of information.
Understanding the problem is key to being able to do something about it. Tekmar feels that it is important to pull together and make something positive happens about the issue. We should, as connected companies effected by these rules be speaking up about it now. We should be talking to our customers and prospects about it. The voices of the big telecom companies have been and are being heard by the FCC. Make sure ours is too. There is an open comment period on the proposed rules. Use the link above or below.
Submitting your own comments directly to the FCC through the Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://dearfcc.org
If you have any questions or concerns about Net Neutrality leave a comment below or write to info at tekmarsolutions.com
revised: 7/31/2014 to reflect the correct source for Tara’s video.