NET NUETRALITY

Net neutrality is a principle through which internet service providers and government should treat internet equally, not discriminating and differentiating users, content, site, mode of application, platform or any mode of communication. When we use internet on computer or smartphone or any electronic gadget of your choice, we assume we will be able to access any website or access any application we want at fastest speed possible, whether it be giant corporation website, or a mom and pop business around the corner. This, what keeps our internet open is what we call Net Nuetrality. This principle preserves our right to communicate freely online. With net neutrality, Internet has driven online economic innovation, democratic participation and free speech. The networks job becomes restricted to just moving data. Worlds largest phone and cable companies including AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon want to be Internet gatekeepers and decide which websites and apps go fast, which go slow and which won't load at all. Story starts when The Federal Communications Commission enacted its net-neutrality order in late 2010. This regulation prohibits Internet service providers like Verizon, Comcast from slowing down or blocking against legitimate websites. Cell phone carriers will be barred from blocking apps that compete with their own services. Verizon decided to team up with wireless carrier MetroPCS to challenge the FCCs right to draft and enforce Net Neutrality rules. After that these companies claimed that they themselves have the right to edit the internet. Broadband providers like Verizon claimed that they possess editorial discretion to feature some content and block others. Their customer service mantra became Pay us a ton and we will make sure your content reaches customers fast. If we feel like it. The FCC backfired at Verizons claim that its freedom of speech shouldnt trump Internet users right to the same. The FCCs court filing also made it clear that Net Neutrality rules do not interfere with any message Verizon or any other company wants to communicate on its own website or in communications with its own customers. Verizon is now given a chance to explain why companies like Verizon should be given right to edit internet for us. Google and Verizon then came up with a new legislative framework for net neutrality. According to this new proposal, both companies have long been proponents of the FCCs current wire line broadband openness principles. They proposed that in addit ion to these existing principles there should be a new, enforceable prohibition against discriminatory practices. This means that the broadband providers would not be able to discriminate against or prioritize lawful Internet content, applications or services in a way that causes harm to users or competition. It then becomes important that the consumer be fully informed about their Internet experiences. The proposal would create enforceable transparency rules, for all internet service providers. And last, the proposal would allow broadband providers to offer additional, differentiated online services, in addition to the Internet access and video services (such as Verizon's FIOS TV) offered today. The proposal suggests on putting a differentiated broadband infrastructure for services like health care monitoring, smart grid, educational services etc. While Google was urging congress to support net neutrality, google and Verizon was conspiring to create a tiered internet service. It will thus have unlimited potential to

forever change how you access the internetand how much you pay for it. Verizon want to create a special high-speed toll lane, where internet providers can decide what you'll be able to see and do on the internet, and how fast. And while the government was trying to preserve net neutrality, Google cozied up with Verizon to make sure those YouTube videos loaded faster than, say, Vimeo. Google thus decided to join these ISPs. Smaller content providers, who cant compete with corporates like Google, will forever be punished with slower load times for it. The compromising proposal that was described above would restrict Verizon from selectively slowing Internet content that travels over its wires, but wouldn't apply such limits to Internet use on mobile phones, according to the people, who spoke yesterday and asked not to be identified before an announcement. There is a lot of murkiness going on and talks have been going on between, FCC, Google and Verizon. Let wait and see the future of internet.