First a short introduction: my name is Ted Potter and I’m part of the design team here at Webflo studios. I’ve had some experience in nearly every computer-related design field, from web design to 3d modeling to video editing. I’ve been in this field for many years now and I will be for years to come.

Anyway, now that that’s out of the way let’s get talking about net neutrality.

Ever since the internet was created it has operated on the concept of neutrality. All data transferred across the internet’s pipelines have always received equal priority. All data transfers at the same speeds, through the same pipelines, whether it is cnn.com or joesgeneralstore.com.

But the major telecom companies don’t like it that way. They want to create a high speed pipeline that they control, and if your business wants to use this fast speed pipeline then you will have to pay a large fee to gain access. All the other sites that don’t pay the fee or are not affiliated with the telecom companies would be allocated to a secondary slower lane.

The justification that these telecom companies give for us giving them this power, is making the internet cabling network completely fiber optic, which was something they claimed they would complete previously, by 2006. But that didn’t happen, and millions of dollars in tax payer money and years later, they have proposed this new plan instead.

So enough on telecom companies; how does this affect you?

As small business owners or individuals, you are probably not going to want to pay the large fee associated with getting access to the faster telecom internet pipeline, and thus you will be allocated to the slow lane. Imagine the freeway at rush hour but instead of there being 4 lanes and 1 fast lane, there is 1 normal lane and 4 fast lanes, and the only cars you see in the fast lane cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the rest of traffic, or the majority of the internet, is left bumper to bumper in gridlock.

This will essentially give gatekeeping power to the telecom companies over what you have fast reliable access to. In the most extreme scenario the internet could become a closed medium, like radio and television have in the past.

So what can you do to help keep the internet an open media outlet?

Get Involved.

There are many people, bands, businesses, and politicians currently fighting the good fight to keep the internet a free and open medium. So get out there and learn, and make your voice heard.

Visit sites like Save the Internet to learn more and write your state politicians about your thoughts on net neutrality.

Well that’s all on net neutrality, get out there and learn and make your voice heard, and remember to check out the rest of the site.