Net Neutrality Analysis

Words: 1180
Pages: 5

The article “Here’s How The End of Net Neutrality Will Change the Internet” considers how “Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon may soon be free to block content, slow video-streaming services from rivals, and off “fast lanes” to preferred partners” (Finley). It discusses what net neutrality is, how broadband providers are operating under the current rules, and what the future might hold should the Federal Communications Commission repeal the Obama-era rules which ban broadband providers from discriminating against lawful content providers. Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) should allow consumers unhindered access to all legal content and applications free from discrimination based on sources. …show more content…
It utilizes emotion as it invokes a sense of concern and worry at the beginning as it talked about the potential impacts of the possible repeal of net neutrality. It utilizes memory as it recalls the past and current conditions and applications of net neutrality. There is also a certain amount of imagination in the article as it discusses some of the potential futures of the Internet, one of which is quite unlikely and dire. Sense perception is also key in this article as the Internet and net neutrality are all focused on how the public can consume the Internet, whether it visual, like the article, or audible. Intuition is also present as the article infers and rationalizes the potential impacts of net neutrality. The article also uses reason to analyze the current situation of the Internet and how small companies could potentially be at risk should the rules of net neutrality be repealed. Surprisingly, faith was also present as the article values Congress and public support in order to prevent the lack of net neutrality from getting out of hand. In addition, the language of the article denotes in great detail a list of futures of the Internet that are possible on the net neutrality spectrum. Regarding the Areas of Knowledge, this article seems to mainly be focused on three areas: mathematics, due to the use of conjecture and proof; ethics, due to the discussion of the moral implications of a lack of net neutrality; and natural sciences, due to the consideration of a potential shift in the customer-ISP paradigm that could occur. One underlying problem of knowledge that the article brings up is “To what extent should companies be able to control access to the Internet?” An issue of net neutrality that ties in directly with the problem of knowledge is the potential censorship that companies can put in place due to a lack of restriction. This also ties into the knowledge question of “In what ways