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The Pros And Cons Of Net Neutrality

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Some say that the internet has already begun to die. And the Federal Communications Commission’s December 14th vote to end Net Neutrality might be the killing blow. Net Neutrality is the principal that Internet Service Providers can’t offer preferential treatment to any content or website. For example an Internet Service Provider slowing down Netflix, or speeding up their own streaming service would go against Net Neutrality. Today three of the five (the other two being Mircosoft and Apple) highest valued American companies, Amazon, Google and Facebook, began as internet startups and all five of these companies are very much internet companies today and are extremely powerful, controlling apps, app stores, ad serving, entertainment, commerce, cloud services, and website hosting. And to go along with these giants of the internet there are the giants of telecom, AT&T, Comcast, Charter, and Verizon who supply the internet to almost all of our country and are also looking to become content companies (for example Hulu is owned by Comcast). These nine companies would have an immense amount of power, money and the capability to thwart future start ups to gain traction, “nipping them in the bud” before they can become competitors, censor dissenting opinions, and price gauge their consumers even more than before. However, that is only if Net Neutrality was to be repealed.

Even though the term Net Neutrality has only been around since 2008, the principals and debate behind the term

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