There is a debate raging now regarding whether Internet Service Providers (ISP) should be able to control and adjust the speed of data coming from certain sites. The pro-net neutrality group primarily consists of internet users who want to be able to view all websites at an equal speed. They feel there should be no discrimination based on the website. Those opposed to net neutrality primarily consist of the large ISPs who are constantly battling with the increased demand for data. The increase in demand stems from our increased technological "needs" such as updating our facebook pages, searching for restaurants, playing music through Pandora, using network based video games, or watching videos on YouTube. No longer are we just using bandwidth from our laptops, but now we have our new high powered mobile devices aka smartphones which are with us 24/7.
The main fear is that as ISP's become the floodgates controlling which websites have faster data transfers, internet users can be swayed and perceive certain websites to be superior to others. This puts many small internet based businesses in jeopardy of being out-maneuvered by their stronger competitors who can easily pay for the faster data speed. Controlling the data transfer can enable the ISP's to make certain websites unusable.
By making websites pay for the speed of data transfers, the ISP's will be able to make a lot of money. The question is whether this control is beneficial for the everyday internet user.
A seperate article also discusses how Democrat Henry Waxman just had his proposal for net neutrality fall short of the required votes in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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