The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, Calif. Volume VII- Issue 8
November 30, 2017
www.theskylineview.com
Your internet is in danger The upcoming net neutrality vote could change how users receive internet
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By Olivia Bowman TSV News Editor
The upcoming net neutrality vote could shake up the way users receive internet. On Dec. 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will decide the fate of the internet. The proposed vote will determine whether the net neutrality rules, that were put into place in 2015, should be repealed. Under this new ruling, the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will no longer be compelled to offer equal internet service to all consumers. What could change: ISPs could slow down the service of websites they don't like. They could also block websites at their leisure and prioritize paid content. “It’s really unfair to not have access to everything you want to see,” environmental engineering major Stella Yee said. ISPs are no stranger to fighting dirty: Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T blocked Google Wallet in favor of a mobile payment app
called Isis. Comcast retaliated against BitTorrent by slowing down their internet speed. AT&T has previously blocked access to video chatting apps. But under the previous rules, the FCC was able to remedy these issues.
Who’s in charge?
be ISPs ability to block certain sites. Columbia law professor ISPs will now hold all the power Tim Wu, who coined the term if they pass the new ruling. They “net neutrality” says this is can “blackmail” sites by slowing “really pretty shocking” in an down their internet service and interview with The New York offer faster internet speeds to Times. Never before have ISPs those that pay them more. They been able to block content. This could also block access to sites could become a bit of a slippery that offer competition to their slope, with ISPs becoming the own, thereby creating a further ultimate authority on what they monopoly over resources. Big allow users to see. Some stuISPs such as AT&T, Comcast, dents such as chemistry major and Verizon could get bigger on Brendan Wong disagree with the the profits from smaller sites and FCCC's new intentions, “They consumers’ higher internet fees. (ISPs) don’t have the right to tell us what we can look at on the Who loses? internet," Wong said.
The FCC is made up of five board members. The 2015 ruling on net neutrality was passed under the Obama administration when the FCC had a democratic majority. But now, the FCC is led by Ajit Pai, who used to be a lawyer for Verizon and who favors government deregulation in the internet industry. With a yea/nay ratio on the elimination of net neutrality now at threetwo, “open internet” may soon be a thing of the past.
Small businesses would struggle to pay higher fees to the ISPs which could slow or stop their growth and make it hard for others to get traffic to their site. This would stunt the industry and discourage some from creating a start-up. Consumers may also have to pay more to access sites that the ISPs do not deem a ‘priority’. This means, that consumers could be paying more, just to get adequate internet speed on certain sites.
Dismantling net neutrality transfers control from the consumer to the provider. By giving ISPs the ability to cherry pick the content that users see, it makes the results of any search biased. “I wouldn’t trust it,” said Clayton Chin, a Skyline math major.
Who benefits?
Another key issue of the dissolution of net neutrality would
Opinions
Don't tax me for my period
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Companies like AT&T and Charter promise to follow the 2015 net neutrality rules, but without federal regulation, there is no way to enforce that. What's been done? Comedian John Oliver went viral in 2014 after his plea for internet users to send comments to the FCC to not destroy net neutrality resulted in four million comments on the FCC's website that caused it to crash.
Focal Point
How current net neutrality rules protect internet users: •
Blocking: Broadband providers may not block access to lawful content, applications, services or non-harmful devices.
•
Throttling: Broadband providers may not deliberately target some lawful internet traffic to be delivered to users more slowly than other traffic.
•
Paid prioritization: Broadband providers may not favor some internet traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind. Internet service providers are also banned from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates. source: www.fcc.gov
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A piece of Teotihuacan in San Francisco
Skyline College dominates Gavilan College
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