Net Neutrality Essay

Introduction
As the internet has grown and advanced, net neutrality has become a hot topic for debate amongst consumers, businesses and governments. Net neutrality is the concept that providers of internet treat all data transmitted over their networks as equal and refrain from prioritizing or de-prioritizing certain categories of traffic flows. In this article, authors Alissa Cooper and Ian Brown approach the topic from two angles; competition and barriers to development and innovation. In regards to competition, the authors discuss whether or not competition among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) creates an environment that favors net neutrality. The topic of barriers explores whether or not the absence of net neutrality ultimately creates barriers that negatively impact the development of products that are dependent on the internet as a platform.
Competition and Net Neutrality
Regulate or let the free market decide. Proponents of regulation feel that the power to decide data priority over a network that provides internet to consumers is too much power to entrust with ISPs. The belief is that an ISP should not have the power to potentially disrupt and ultimately decide with platforms on the internet succeed and fail. The lasses-faire approach believes that competition will ultimately reign in ISPs and prevent abuses of power. The authors in this journal discuss the environments in the UK and US and whether or not competition prevents discriminatory treatment of data by