BA Today - Spring 2018

A TODA

Volume 11, Spring 2018

BA Today | 1

By Sophie Akyuz '19, Reporter

Imagine this…

Sometime in the near future, you are using Instagram on your phone and you receive a strange notification saying “This site has been been blocked by your ISP.” You realize you can’t go on your favorite websites without paying a fee. This is the future without net neutrality.

Net neutrality has been an important issue that almost everyone has gotten tired of hearing—but here’s why it’s going to be even more important in 2018.

It is a component in almost every aspect of the internet, as well as the real world.

Many countries are currently living without net neutrality and are perfect examples of what the U.S. would be without it. Net neutrality is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the idea, principle, or requirement that internet service providers should or must treat all Internet data as the same regardless of its kind, source, or destination.”

With new laws being passed, the lack of net neutrality will affect every internet user. Opinions have been debated about whether net neutrality is good or not. What we do know is that it allows users to pay for internet as a whole—whereas removing net neutrality completely will most likely result in users having to pay for social media and other sites individually.

Although the repeal of net neutrality will not take place all at once, it is more likely going to benefit internet providers only. According to The New York Times, larger internet broadband companies could end up charging popular sites, such as Netflix, to advertise to their users and send these users to larger companies.

If the repeal of net neutrality positively affects internet providers, what will it do for regular internet users? The most obvious result is increased costs of internet usage and limited access to internet resources. A less-known effect of the repeal of net neutrality is that the privacy of internet users would be in danger.

Many people use what is called a virtual private network, or VPN, which protects the exposure of personal information. If these VPN’s are not able to be accessed, then personal information can be exposed.

The imminent danger to companies is that internet users would eventually lose interest in their favorite resources which declines business for these sites.

The problem can become very complicated to get around, all because of trying to limit access for users and to get more profit out of it.

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16 | BA Today

The Bayside Chess Team competes at Daphne High School in the county match on Thursday, February 8, 2018.