{"id":2513,"date":"2017-04-28T14:24:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T19:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/?p=2513"},"modified":"2018-08-20T13:59:08","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T18:59:08","slug":"net-neutrality-reversal-back-in-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebozho.com\/net-neutrality-reversal-back-in-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe FCC chairman Ajit Pai just isn’t a David Duchovny fan?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We live on the internet. It\u2019s the source of nearly all of our information, social interaction and GIFs of cats acting like people<\/a>. Much like the oceans, it covers our planet like a vast blanket, making itself available to people almost everywhere. And even more so like the oceans, it\u2019s in danger of dying because of corporate recklessness.<\/p>\n

FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced a plan<\/a> this week that would effectively end government oversight on internet service providers. As it stands, ISPs are classified as utilities, which means they\u2019re subject to stricter regulation under the Federal Communications Act. Under Pai\u2019s proposal, the ability to regulate user traffic would be the duty of the ISPs themselves.<\/p>\n

This would allow for the prioritization of higher-value users \u2014 i.e. large corporations \u2014 over smaller businesses and individual broadband accounts. In short, big users would have better, unfettered access to high-speed data, while those on the other end would be subject to extra fees to avoid a sluggish connection.<\/p>\n

The issue of net neutrality is nothing new. It\u2019s explained pretty well in the funny and informative 2013 docufiction web film The Internet Must Go<\/a><\/em>, which features comedian John Hodgman (aka the PC in those old Mac commercials, so the guy obviously knows a thing or two about computers).<\/p>\n