In this article, I am going to talk about this new disaster on the internet that is Net Neutrality and by reading this article you will get to know why it is one!

But first, the question comes up, ‘What is net neutrality’?

Net Neutrality is the principle which treats all data on the internet as the same and does not discriminate or charge more from a user for accessing certain services.

Now you might not think much of this principle, but if it does not exist, you’ll face many problems.

Why Net Neutrality is so important:

First and foremost, today we can do anything we want from watching Netflix, or searching the web for a simple meaning, or to some even learn “How to Build a Bomb” (GOOGLE DON’T CATCH ME !).

But what if you have to pay EXTRA to do this, which means except for the net connection you are paying for, you have to pay extra to fulfill your needs?

Now, the second problem is that you will get what you pay for: the higher you pay, the more you get. For example, just imagine you pay $5 to watch videos on Youtube but since you have paid only $5, you can watch the video on at 360p; you need to pay more to watch it at 1080p, which isn’t logical at all.

This is why this is why Net Neutrality is such a disaster.

Companies that pay the ISP more will be able to get an advantage over the other companies. JUST IMAGINE: What if Yahoo pays Airtel, so Airtel slows down your access to Google, essentially manipulating you to stop visiting Google and forcing you to use Yahoo instead!

That means the ISP can stop your internet traffic.

Example: There are these websites which can be referred to as Cars. Like CAR G (Google), Car FB (Facebook), Car YT (Youtube) and whenever you want them, you can just get them. Now, if net neutrality disappears, a company which has given greater shares to the ISP will come at a faster speed to you and the other Cars (Websites) might get delayed or blocked completely.

However, getting rid of Net Neutrality does offer an advantage to telecom service providers, as they earn money both from the user (by charging him more money for high-speed access to every different service) as well as from the big companies (by taking money from them to favour them over other smaller enterprises).

Companies like FaceBook (remember Free Basics?) would provide cheap and reliable internet to you, if you’re willing to deal with the walled garden of handpicked services FaceBook chooses to offer you. It is true, though, that doing away with net neutrality will put some rules and laws on the Internet. But who benefits from these rules? Definitely not you, the user.
Over in the US of A, regulators have moved to scrap net neutrality rules that have protected open internet access to all users in the US. Things look pretty bleak.

However, we have Good News for you!

Net neutrality in India:

As of August 2015, there were no laws governing net neutrality in India. Because of citizens’ protests and petitions, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had opposed FaceBook setting up Free Basics in this country and preserved the open, free and non-discriminatory nature of the internet.

Last month, TRAI proposed new guidelines which support equal access to online content, at odds with the USA’s stance on the matter. As the debate over the adoption of these guidelines will continue the next year, we must continue to show our support for the authority’s stance.

Meanwhile, we can rest assured that at least in India, steps are being taken to promote and establish Net Neutrality, which benefits you – the common internet user!