Net Neutrality is the idea that all information on the internet should be treated equally in terms of pricing and availability. In other words, all information should be provided to all users at the same price regardless of what sites they're attempting to access, or who the user is.
Some of the pros of Net Neutrailty are that users are able to access the information they desire without being charged more simply because they are trying to access a certain site or are using a certain platform to navigate with. This allows for more of an open market with web surfing and the promotion of competition. As a web user, it has been greatly beneficial for me that various companies offer things like different types of competing web browsers (IE, FireFox, Safari, Chrome, etc). This enhances the users experience by allowing the user to use whichever platform suites them best. Net Neutrality is also advantageous for giving people more freedom of which sites they choose to navigate to without the concern of being discriminately charged for doing so. This type of freedom of information is no doubt advantageous.
However, I can also see some of the cons that might come with Net Neutrality. For example, if a particular user is constantly streaming videos and things that require more bandwidth and stress the end server out more, than it might make more sense that that person should pay more for their usage. The same principle can be seen with phone companies and the coverage they provide, if you use a certain amount of data, you pay a certain price. Another con of Net Neutrality is that some content is very hard and time consuming to produce, so perhaps charging more for it would make more sense. If Net Neutrality were to be implemented, there would be no incentive for that website to continue to publish that information that is hard to produce because they would receive little gain from it. Surely certain computers and platforms are more difficult to accommodate so I can also see the justification of those companies charging more for their usage.
Net Neutrality has been in the news lately with the FCC and Netflix/Comcast. Netflix has been claiming that Comcast is supporting lower net neutrality and after a new ruling, the FCC's net neutrality rules have been diminished so much controversy has arisen since. Netflix has since paid the ISP Comcast but was not happy about it, warning that they will resist actions from ISP's charging more for streaming or to avoid service degradation.
I believe net neutrality can be compared to free speech because the internet is a means of expression and many people share their ideas and thoughts on it so it can be argued that it shouldn't be censored or restricted. Freedom of speech and net neutrality go hand in hand.
The recent news about net neutrality affects me because as an avid web user it is a constant concern of mine that prices may be raised and content restricted. I also own an apartment and have to pay the ISP Comcast for my internet so I am directly affected by that. It often annoys me the price I already pay to Comcast and the terribly slow and poor service they provide. This is also a growing concern for people like me who reside on a college campus where ISP alternatives are scarce and Comcast essentially has a monopoly. Hopefully net neutrality can remain for the greater good of web users.
I personally like the idea of Net Neutrality because as I have previously stated, it promotes competition and that usually benefits consumers such as myself. I also don't like the idea of low net neutrality because it would give certain companies the opportunity to really price gouge people who have few alternatives for ISP's. I also think the internet is a wonderful tool for people to educate themselves with and it would be terribly unfortunate for it to be restricted because of pricing.
An interesting read about how freedom and net neutrality are related. This article sheds some light on the potential for ISP's to abuse the looser net neutrality rules. More interesting articles can be found on this website which discusses net neutrality in great detail.
http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2014/03/05/our-rights-shouldnt-come-expiration-date
If you're like myself and would prefer to watch a video vs read a wordy article, feast your eyes on the video below to clarify net neutrality if you still quite don't understand it. Mr Valdes has been used before in class lectures so we know hes a credible source.
http://mashable.com/2014/02/26/mashable-explains-net-neutrality/
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