Net neutrality: Netflix vs Verizon
Net neutrality is?
Net neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers — like Verizon, Comcast and AT&T — should treat all the traffic in their pipes the same way, even if there’s a lot of it.
What is the discussion about
It’s all about who runs the show. What is happening at the moment is that some businesses use the internet facilities more than others. For instance Netflix pushes high volumes of data (also known as movies) down the internet tube to its very willing customer base.
In a smaller way so does Facebook, or your favourite online store such as Amazon to mention but a few of the internet hoggers. So when Netflix is busy i.e. a ton of Netflix users are ready to watch movies, the internet is used more than if a bunch of folk are needing to find a local plumber.
And of course it also means that when Netflix is being used the most, during the evenings, the rest of the folk in the same time zone tend to be affected with slower internet speed. As well as of course how it affects your download speed of your favourite TV series.
It’s really exactly like the traffic on the road. It’s called rush hour. Everybody wanting to get home to families. All at the same time. That means clogged up 10 lane highways. All folk chatting, watching videos, downloading movies, reading news, fiddling on social media are creating a ‘rush hour’ affect on the internet.
So who should pay for putting in another two lanes of highway? In the same way who has to pay for greater capacity during the peak times of internet use?
A solution?
A solution was suggested recently in the USA, but could come to a country near you. The big service providers, the Verizons or AT&Ts of this world, put forward a suggestion that the big users such as Netflix should pay much higher premium prices for the use of the internet service (because they are clogging up the internet). This would of course be passed on to customers. So don’t think it’s only a fight amongst the big boys.
End of a democratic internet
It would spell the end of the democratic web of course where everybody can use the same ‘pipeline’ at a reasonable price regardless of how much of it they use. And of course the benefit at the end of the day is the ordinary user of the internet.
Is that a good idea?
Here is a point of view that is both funny and on point. And definitely makes it easy to understand what the dispute is about. Watch and enjoy.
