Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality, for those unfamiliar, is the idea that all websites should be allowed to the ability to upload/download at whatever rate the viewer has, with the variation being from person to person not website to website. For example, if I have 15mb/s download, then all websites will download at that rate. Now, each website has different content but that content doesn't affect my download rate. This seems like something completely integral to the internet. Until recently, I didn't even know the internet could run differently.
So what changed?
Some companies - Verizon, AT & T, and Comcast to name a few - want not only to dictate the speeds at which users can download, but the speed at which websites can upload. What does this mean? It means that, regardless of your 15mb/s download, some websites may only be accessible at, say, 3mb/s. So, even though you're paying for access, the website you are accessing might not be. Your access means nada at that point, and if websites aren't paying the ransom they may run slow, or be invisible.
It means starting a website could get a whole lot harder. Bad news for startups, bad news for big media websites, and bad news for content creators.
This seems unrelated to writing, on the surface. I mean, text is an easy form of data that no longer seems subject to download/upload limits anyway, so how could net neutrality possibly affect it? Books take literally seconds to download, who cares if it becomes minutes?
Well, for a lot of people, it's already a tough decision to download a book. It's a media requiring lot of time investment (even though that time to money ratio might be awesome) and a lot of the professionally published books are expensive. Now, what if you add that the book takes minutes to download? What if people stop even using the websites that might expose them to new titles? To your titles? What if the author website you want to create comes with a hefty price tag just to keep it visible? Or just to let you access it - on top of paying for your monthly internet service?
Seem ridiculous? Well, this is the power that the telecom companies want. They're claiming that their profits will improve, as though their profits are the only ones that matter. They want to suck the money out of both ends - the content creators and the content consumers.
So what changed?
Some companies - Verizon, AT & T, and Comcast to name a few - want not only to dictate the speeds at which users can download, but the speed at which websites can upload. What does this mean? It means that, regardless of your 15mb/s download, some websites may only be accessible at, say, 3mb/s. So, even though you're paying for access, the website you are accessing might not be. Your access means nada at that point, and if websites aren't paying the ransom they may run slow, or be invisible.
It means starting a website could get a whole lot harder. Bad news for startups, bad news for big media websites, and bad news for content creators.
This seems unrelated to writing, on the surface. I mean, text is an easy form of data that no longer seems subject to download/upload limits anyway, so how could net neutrality possibly affect it? Books take literally seconds to download, who cares if it becomes minutes?
Well, for a lot of people, it's already a tough decision to download a book. It's a media requiring lot of time investment (even though that time to money ratio might be awesome) and a lot of the professionally published books are expensive. Now, what if you add that the book takes minutes to download? What if people stop even using the websites that might expose them to new titles? To your titles? What if the author website you want to create comes with a hefty price tag just to keep it visible? Or just to let you access it - on top of paying for your monthly internet service?
Seem ridiculous? Well, this is the power that the telecom companies want. They're claiming that their profits will improve, as though their profits are the only ones that matter. They want to suck the money out of both ends - the content creators and the content consumers.
What if Amazon.com, a big pusher of streaming media, was one of the websites that couldn't, or refused, to pay the ransom for equal access to the internet? What if the companies that dictate website speeds change their policies to keep websites like Amazon out? Once we give them the keys, it's going to be hard to get them back, and Amazon is the biggest bookstore in the world - there's a lot of profit there for a savvy telecom company with all the control! Hell, they don't even need to be savvy.
Net neutrality is important. It keeps the internet wide open to whoever has access to a connection and whoever wants to get their work out to those people. If we allow companies to fence certain websites, we are fencing ourselves too. Do you want less access to some of your favorite websites, regardless of what you pay for your internet connection? Big companies want to get paid twice, and that makes it hard for any content creator - including authors.
If you want to help keep the net neutral, talk to your politicians, write blog posts, tweet, and, most importantly, make yourself heard. Don't let the telecom companies take your access. Don't let them stunt your creative growth. Support net neutrality.
Net neutrality is important. It keeps the internet wide open to whoever has access to a connection and whoever wants to get their work out to those people. If we allow companies to fence certain websites, we are fencing ourselves too. Do you want less access to some of your favorite websites, regardless of what you pay for your internet connection? Big companies want to get paid twice, and that makes it hard for any content creator - including authors.
If you want to help keep the net neutral, talk to your politicians, write blog posts, tweet, and, most importantly, make yourself heard. Don't let the telecom companies take your access. Don't let them stunt your creative growth. Support net neutrality.
Comments
Post a Comment