There are many varying opinions on the topic of net neutrality in today's society. It can be a positive thing in that it helps information be viewed equally, giving smaller business the same chance at being viewed and spread online as bigger companies, without users fearing that they will be charged extra for viewing new material. It allows people to get into different things and find new products and information at no risk of extra charge, and ultimately allows for a better flow of a variety of goods and services. The cons of net neutrality, however, are that society already has enough legislation as it is, and that net neutrality could create unethical loopholes in the system. Some big companies are opposed to it because they can afford to invest more in their networks and attract more customers, while smaller businesses are in favor of it because it creates equal opportunities if they cannot afford to upgrade their networks.
Net neutrality has been in the news lately due to the Federal Communications Commissions wanting more power. The FCC wants to have the power to regulate the distribution of data and be in charge of what speeds different data will receive. The court would not grant them this power, however, they are trying to appeal the court ruling anyways.
Net neutrality is tied to the topic of freedom of speech because it allows for discussions and flow of information to flow freely online. If people had to pay to find and put information online, than in turn the information and right to speak your mind (freedom of speech) would not be free.
I know that the recent discussions of net neutrality would affect my life daily. I am a frequent internet user and spend a lot of time on things like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu. If I had to pay extra for these services, than I would not use them as much in my extra time in fear of the additional charges. I also would not spend time looking at different blogs because I would want to only spend my money on the additional charges that were absolutely necessary to me, like finding information online for school and listening to music.
I think that net neutrality is extremely important. I believe that certain things in life should be free, and that information is one of them. Without net neutrality, we would be giving more power to bigger businesses and taking away power to smaller ones. In this economy, the smaller businesses need all of the help they can get, and net neutrality helps make things more fair in that sense.
https://www.aclu.org/net-neutrality
This is a reputable source because it is from the American Civil Liberties Union which is a reputable organization and the site ends in ".org". There seemed to be no bias in the article and it was a good source on the topic of net neutrality.
https://www.eff.org/issues/net-neutrality
This is a reputable site also giving information about net neutrality. It is up to date and the information is from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It even gives off links to other sites and is an organization because it ends in ".org".
