Hammond 1

Siena Hammond

Mrs. McNett

English 1010

18 December 2017

Addressing Net Neutrality

On December 14 of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be

voting to repeal Title II of net neutrality. Their decision will be the deciding factor in making

tomorrow, tomorrow. Net neutrality preserves consumers rights to communicate freely online

without any interference. The chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, wishes to repeal Title II in order to

“foster an environment where all Internet companies regardless of their size or background can

thrive” (Paul). If Title II is repealed, then there will be a constant rise in prices for consumers

that are set by companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. Political viewpoints that sell for

the highest bidding price would be pushed forward as a tactical skill to emphasize what they

want in order to deceive the public eye. More voices would be silenced if they had any differing

points that the head of the ISPs disagreed with. Money would be the only thing controlling the

internet. In order to create equality everywhere and please consumers, the FCC needs to reform

net neutrality Title II to ensure that no one will be overcharged to use the internet and access

every day websites, prevent media from showcasing what a specific group or person wants to be

shown, and to protects all citizens of the First Amendment.

Technology is ever evolving and it is a habitual tool. We use the internet to check the

news, forecasts, wander about on social media, or use it for our own entertainment. The internet

is used to connect with people all across the globe for trade of goods, services and information.
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We are able to use it freely without second hand disturbance because “in 2015, millions of

activists pressured the Federal Communications Commission to adopt historic net neutrality rules

that [kept] the internet free and open — allowing people to share and access information of their

choosing without interference” (Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know Now). These regulated

rules are known as Title II. After putting Title II into effect the FCC had the authority it needed

to protect consumers from companies such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon, ensuring that they

would not have the power to throttle or interfere with web traffic (Net Neutrality: What You

Need to Know Now).

The Federal Communications Commission regulates communication laws and they

promote competition, support the economy, encourage the best use of spectrum domestically and

internationally, revise media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity

and localism, and provide leadership in strengthening the nation’s communications infrastructure

(FCC). The FCC consists of “bureaus and offices [with] staff members [who] share expertise to

cooperatively fulfill responsibilities (FCC). Some of the responsibilities that they are accountable

for consist of “developing and implementing regulatory programs, [process] applications for

licenses and other filings, [encourage] the development of innovative services, [conduct]

investigations and [analyze] complaints, public safety and homeland security, [and provide]

consumer information and education (FCC). They also create rules to regulate the internet and

care for their consumers by creating a fair and equal space.

Ever since Title II was enforced, consumers were able to use the internet and web pages

at the same speed without any extra costs. If the decision in December of 2017 is made to repeal

Net Neutrality and everything it protects, the prices for consumers are going to rise. “Online
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video streaming services such as Hulu, Netflix or Dish Network's Sling TV may face particular

pressure from wireless carriers and internet providers to pay for more seamless access to

consumers” (McKinnon). Internet providers and carriers such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon

will become more competitive with one another once Title II is thrown away. These companies

yearning to make more profit will detect their opportunity and will use it in order to help

themselves thrive after losing money ever since Title II was put into action. “[If Pai’s plan is] to

succeed, the only real winners will be the cable and phone industries, which will gain yet another

way to raise prices for everyone” (Wu).

If Title II is repealed, then the corporate companies such as Comcast, AT&T, and

Verizon will utilize “their gatekeeping powers ... to require businesses and individuals to pay a

premium to ensure their content is delivered on equal terms -- or even at all” (Berners-Lee). With

the ability to determine what is being showcased to the public, corporate companies will use this

against smaller companies that cannot afford to pay large sums of money for their content to be

shown as much as other companies that are paying more. Corporate companies will have the

ability to determine the flow of each individual web based page and anything else that requires

the internet. In addition, they will be able to charge consumers if they want faster flowing pages.

Other separate companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Twitter would have to pay

extra if they wanted their feed to flow quicker to their consumers.

The First Amendment protects everyone’s freedom of speech. Whether it be by physical

voice, or an online one. The government's responsibility is to ensure that no one is being

discriminated against. Each individual person contains a view that is different from one another.

These views may clash at times and cause devastating outcomes, but in the American Bill of
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Rights, speech is protected and should continue to be. Facebook, Google, and Twitter are all

guilty of silencing the voices of others. They have silenced those that they don’t agree with,

those who have a different viewpoint, and those who are against their values and personal

beliefs. There are many different voices to be heard, but none should be silenced. If large

corporate companies take over, then they will have the ability to do the same thing.

Hate speech and accounts or comments on gun control have been deleted before. Local

news distributors have been silencing people they do not want to be heard. From a personal

interview with Dale Hammond, and eye witness to a silence of speech, states that he saw a

comment on KSL under an article in 2013 after there was a local killing of officer Derek Johnson

in Draper Utah. Citizens were panic stricken and determined to defend their families against any

other possible attacks. According to Hammond, there was a comment left under one of the

articles feeding information to the public. Hammond states that “the comment was from another

citizen in an outside city. They had said that they were not worried about their family inside of

Draper because they [knew their family] owned guns and had the ability to protect themselves.”

It was later stated that the comment that had been made was removed no more than one hour

after it’s posting under the KSL article (Hammond).

Silencing a voice is not a difficult task to complete when it can be disregarded with a

click of a button. No one's voice should be muffled, no matter their speech. Although Title II

does not protect the speech of others, it needs to. Facebook, Google, Twitter, and other online

companies should not have the ability to silence others, nor should corporate companies such as

AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon. In order to ensure that this will not continue to happen, the FCC

needs to reform Title II to include the protection of speech under the First Amendment.
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Prices for online platforms have already begun to rise. Netflix had already announced that

they would be increasing their prices in order to continue to provide quick stream time periods

for their consumers. A feeling of doubt has been hanging over the American people, a storm

cloud that hangs over a city while the people below can already smell the fresh scent of rain

before it falls. If net neutrality is repealed, then “there’s really only one condition here: internet

providers will have to disclose their policies regarding “network management practices,

performance, and commercial terms.” So if ISPs want to block websites, throttle your

connection, or charge certain websites more, they’ll have to admit it” (Kastrenakes). When

considering the outcomes and possibilities for net neutrality, we are in the dark about what

moves ISPs can and will make. The best we can do is prepare for what might be awaiting us at

the end of the day on December 14.

Reforming Title II of net neutrality is our best option. “Net neutrality is vital. It ensures

that all internet data is treated equally and that our websites cannot be slowed down, blocked, or

discriminated against online” (Alford). We need to keep the main ideas on net neutrality, but we

need to make small changes. Changes that will ensure that consumers of the internet will have a

free voice. The FCC would have the ability to track what everyone is posting online and will be

able to punish platforms that violate this rule. Weather it be through fees or public

announcement, it is the FCC’s job to protect their citizens. Alford agrees that the net neutrality

rules of today “aren't good enough and need to be reformed to protect our operations and

communities online… Americans deserve a permanent, stable, and even-handed net neutrality

law that protects our data and fair competition online. That is something that can only be

accomplished by Congress, where bipartisan support clearly exists to make net neutrality the law
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of the land. A law would put net neutrality beyond politics, eliminate the need to rely on legal

contortions like Title II, and boost fair competition and equal opportunity everywhere online”

(Alford).
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Bibliography

Alford, Harry C. "We Want Net Neutrality and Equal Opportunity Online." East Bay Times, 25

June, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

Berners-Lee, Tim. "In Defense of Net Neutrality." Wall Street Journal, 23 June, 2017. Web. 01

Dec, 2017.

Donlan, Thomas G. "Net Neutrality is Anything but." Barron's, May, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

FCC. “What We Do”. Fcc.gov web page. 11 Dec, 2017.

Hammond, Dale. Personal Interview. 11 Dec, 2017.

Kastrenakes, Jacob. “ISPs Won’t Promise to Treat all Traffic Equally After Net Neutrality”. The

Verge, 15 Dec, 2017. Web. 15 Dec, 2017.

McKinnon, John D. "FCC Plan to Roll Back Net Neutrality Rules Sets Up Win for Cable." Wall

Street Journal Online, 21 Nov, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

“Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know Now”. Save the Internet. Web. 02 Dec, 2017.

Pai, Ajit. "Why I'm Trying to Change how the FCC Regulates the Internet." Los Angeles Times,
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26 Apr, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

Paul, Brian. "Net Neutrality is Important, but Regulating Internet as Utility is too High a Price."

Mercury News, 06 Aug, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

Wozniak, Steve, and Michael Copps. "Don't Let FCC End the Internet as we Know it." USA

TODAY, 02 Oct, 2017. Web. 01 Dec, 2017.

Wu, Tim. "A Phony Fix for Net Neutrality." New York Times, 28 Apr, 2017. Web. 01 Dec,

2017.