The recent lawsuit caused the FCC to reconsider its position in the issue and support the “fast lane” idea proposed by broadband giants such as Comcast and Verizon. Although common sense seems to dictate that the FCC is committed to protecting the basic Internet rights from being violated, as their website reads “Ensuring that every American has access to open and robust high-speed Internet service”. The agency that is supposed to regulate ISPs is surprisingly not, and it is no coincidence that their current chairman is Tom Wheeler, a former CEO for Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and a lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry. To illustrate further, The CTIA is an association that is devoted entirely for the purpose of making our phone bills unreadable along with adding shady made-up charges. In an article for the Time Magazine titled “Tom Wheeler, Former Lobbyist and Obama Loyalist, Seen as FCC Frontrunner” author Sam Gustin argues “Despite that vote of confidence, many in the public interest community remain suspicious of Wheeler […] due to his industry lobbying” therefore it should be no surprise that the FCC is in favor of abolishing net neutrality, especially after appointing Tom Wheeler as …show more content…
With the abolishment of net neutrality, a new series of factors will emerge in determining the cost of a person’s Internet usage. ISPs will start charging their customers based on the type of websites they access, the quality of the content, and the amount which users consume. First, broadband providers will have the authority to charge customers differently depending on the type of websites accessed. As an illustration, if your ISP has a contract with Yahoo, they will offer access to Yahoo’s email server without extra charges included in your subscription, and that is due to the fact that Yahoo paid the ISP to have the “fast lane” advantages. Conversely, if your choice for an email provider is Gmail, you will have to pay an extra fee to have access of their content. Second, the quality in which we access our content is currently unrestricted, which means that the customer retains the full freedom in choosing the preference they like. Whether it is watching a YouTube video in high definition or streaming music in high quality through Pandora. Thanks to an open Internet, the only way fees can be imposed is through the service provider; therefore Netflix can charge us a monthly subscription. But with an Internet that lacks neutrality, the customer will be forced to pay a fee that grants access to the website in addition to the regular monthly