Net neutrality is the principle that all internet traffic should be treated equally [1]. This is an especially appealing idea if you are in the middle of watching the latest episode of your favorite show on Netflix. The neutral state of the internet is what has allowed data heavy streaming services like Netflix to flourish. However, treating all data usage exactly the same cuts into ISP’s profits, since they would have to charge everybody the same, and bandwidth is finite. This would lead to slowdowns in service, and ISP’s would not be motivated to develop advanced networks if they couldn’t charge for it. [2] On the other hand, if there are no regulations at all, what is to stop ISP’s from discriminating against companies and people
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Opponents of net neutrality, however, take the view that more rules are unnecessary, and the cons outweigh the pros. They also believe internet has run fine for 15 years, and more regulation by the government has not lead to positive progress in the technology sector in the past. [16] Opponents of net neutrality state that more regulation would mean increased costs and decreased development of broadband infrastructure, leading to an ever more inefficient internet. [18] Opponents of net neutrality point out that regulating the internet like a utility would open the industry up to more taxes, much like a phone bill. These costs would be passed to the consumer. [17]This would negatively impact the entire economy. If net neutrality were enforced, and everybody paid the same for the same despite differing usage rates, operator costs would increase anywhere from $20 to $40 billion dollars annually. Not only operators such as cable companies suffer, but also service providers such as Netflix. Without continued growth of infrastructure, service providers would eventually not have a medium competent to expose their content.
Opponents of net neutrality, however, take the view that more rules are unnecessary, and the cons outweigh the pros. They also believe internet has run fine for 15 years, and more regulation by the government has not lead to positive progress in the technology sector in the past. [16] Opponents of net neutrality state that more regulation would mean increased costs and decreased development of broadband infrastructure, leading to an ever more inefficient internet. [18] Opponents of net neutrality point out that regulating the internet like a utility would open the industry up to more taxes, much like a phone bill. These costs would be passed to the consumer. [17]This would negatively impact the entire economy. If net neutrality were enforced, and everybody paid the same for the same despite differing usage rates, operator costs would increase anywhere from $20 to $40 billion dollars annually. Not only operators such as cable companies suffer, but also service providers such as Netflix. Without continued growth of infrastructure, service providers would eventually not have a medium competent to expose their content.