After years of struggle and advocacy on both sides of the debate, net neutrality has reached its boiling point.
On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of Title II of the Communications Act, the proposal that would decide the fate of net neutrality. The historic landmark is the result of years of debate concerning the role of the Internet in our society, and if and how it should be regulated.
With this new legislation, large Internet service providers, or ISPs, would be unable to charge for faster Internet connection and thus would allow small time innovators and customers the ability to access the Internet without hassle.
While this is big news for the startup community, the decision makes a huge wave in the way we view the Internet in the modern age.
Many are hailing the decision as revolutionary. Under Title II, the Internet would be classified as a public utility and not as an information service, like newspapers today, and would be regulated in a way that is fair to all customers. In other words, the government and citizens have now legally acknowledged the decisions regarding the Internet as a necessity.
In this way, at least here in the US, our society has begun to see the Internet in a new light.
In the modern age, the world revolves around the Internet and would change quite drastically if we did not have it. Regardless of the arguments of whether or not net neutrality will be good for consumers in the long run, we can not classify the Internet as a luxury any longer.
When the FCC voted in favor of net neutrality, they not only renewed a debate over the rules and regulations of the Internet, but also began a public discourse on how we should view the Internet and what role its restrictions may have on society as a whole.
As we head forward into the future, it has become more and more obvious that certain technologies, like the Internet, are essential to everyday life and are slowly, but surely, being regarded as necessary. So how will the future pan out? We can not know for certain, but this decision definitely has become a starting point for discussion.