Net Neutrality Research

Net Neutrality has gotten a lot of buzz in the media lately, but what does it mean? Why should anyone care? Net Neutrality is actually an extremely important issue in a society that is growing more and more dependent on the internet. It is the concept that all data on the internet should be treated equally. That sounds vague, but make no mistake, the state of Net Neutrality is integral to our modern world, not only in recent years, but in the future as well. To discuss Net Neutrality, we must look deeper into what it is. One must understand what the internet is, and how it functions. Yes, it is used to access Youtube, Twitter, CNN, Google, and a seemingly infinite number of other websites, but it isn’t run by magic. To access all of this, you must have access to some kind of computing device, whether it be a desktop, laptop, smartphone, or whatever else it may be. This device must be connected to the internet, but how does that happen? Your device connects to a router or cell tower, which connects your device to your Internet Service Provider, or ISP. Examples of ISPs include Comcast, Mediacom,
It was also more centered on the legal classification of the internet, as compared to the current day when it is more of an ethics discussion. It was not until 2003 that it was named “Net Neutrality” and it was around this time that it became a larger issue (Reardon, 2015). Around 2004 – 2005, there was discussion of what freedoms a consumer should have in regards to the internet (Reardon, 2015). After this point, Net Neutrality became more of an ethics discussion, based on the behavior of ISPs. In 2007, it was found that Comcast was interfering with certain data on their network; this interference was later stated as illegal by the FCC (Reardon, 2015). In more recent years, even more problems such as this have sprung up throughout