The Internet as we know it today, is operated under the principle of Net Neutrality, which is

“that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.” –(Wikipedia, accessed 11/25/17).

People who have a better understanding than I explains that without Net Neutrality your Internet Service Provider could slow the speed (called throttling) of certain websites for whatever reason they want. That includes if the website provides a competitive service (such slowing down the Vonage phone service if the ISP also provides a phone service) or on religious or moral grounds (by slowing down the speed for certain religious websites or  youtube videos someone thinks are inappropriate).

There have been suggestions that the ISPs could offer different service options, and charge accordingly. Instead of having everyone the opportunity to access the whole internet, our accessibility would be limited. The graphic at the bottom of the page is denotes what is being done in Portugal, who rolled back Net Neutrality last year. Follow this link to an article about the Portugal Net Neutrality experience.

There are a lot of videos that explain Net Neutrality. Although some are from 2015 when the GOP was pushing the FCC to repeal it, the information they have still relates to 2017. One video that  discusses today’s concerns is from a Detroit news program. You can see it by following this link. It is 6 minutes long.

The biggest Internet Service Providers includes: ATT Internet, Verizon FIOS, Charter Spectrum, CenturyLink, Frontier, Dish Network, T-Mobile, Sprint, and more. Follow this link to see which ISPs offer service in your Zip Code area (and compare their speeds and costs.)

The Federal Communication Commission meets on Thursday, December 14 to vote on eliminating the Net Neutrality regulation.  If they do, the rule change will taken effect in 6 weeks, or near the end of January.

Notes:

• Morning Consult & Politico Poll

  N Size: 2051 Registered Voters Margin of Error: ± 2% June 15-19, 2017

  As you may know, net neutrality is a set of rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which say Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, and Verizon, cannot block, throttle or prioritize certain content on the Internet. Knowing this, do you support or oppose net neutrality?

  • Strongly support 693 (34%)
  • Somewhat support 541 (26%)
  • Somewhat oppose 224 (11%)
  • Strongly oppose 125 (6%)
  • Don’t Know/No Opinion 469 (23%)
• Robots may have been used on the FCC’s Net Neutrality comment period to support the FCC’s proposal.  Follow this link to a one minute report.
• Net Neutrality is dividing Trump Supporters on Reddit.

What can we do now?

• Contact the FCC (I saw this on Facebook)

Copy and paste if you like.
ACTION ITEM: NET NEUTRALITY.
These are the emails of the 5 people on the FCC roster. These are the five people deciding the future of the internet.
The two women have come out as No votes. We need only to convince ONE of the other members to flip to a No vote to save Net Neutrality.
Blow up their inboxes!
Ajit Pai – Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov
Mignon Clyburn – Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov
Michael O’Reilly – Mike.oreilly@fcc.gov
Brendan Carr – Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov
Jessica Rosenworcel-Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov

Spread this comment around! We need to go straight to the source. Be civil, be concise, and make sure they understand that what they’re about to do is UNAMERICAN.
Godspeed!

• Try to convince Republican members of Congress to simply oppose the FCC’s plan. “If you get enough Republicans hearing from their constituents that ‘We’re mad. We don’t want you to sell us out to cable companies,’ then you can imagine some Republicans potentially breaking away from the pack saying, ‘Look, why don’t you slow this down and give Congress a chance to act?’(from Slate.com’s article, How to Save Net Neutrality Before It’s Destroyed.)
• Reed’s Office Phone numbers: Washington (202) 225-3161, Olean (716) 379-8434, Corning (607) 654-7566, Geneva (315) 759-5229, Ithaca (607) 222-2027, Jamestown (716) 708-6369
• Organize a December 7 Net Neutrality Protest at a Verizon Store near you! Why Verizon? The Chair of the FCC is a former Verizon attorney and has historically been against Net Neutrality. An organization named Team Internet is oraginizing the nationwide protest. Follow this link for more information