Let My Packets Go: How Net Neutrality Hacks the Free Flow of Data.

Abstract

Because the ‘Restoring Internet Freedom’ order repealed Net Neutrality laws in 2017, it restored the Internet to its original structure and behavior as a free market. The Internet started as a communication network. It was a system of give and take, similar to BitTorrent though on a far larger scale. It was not designed to provide a commodity, such as electricity, to homes around the nation. The Internet’s origin shows how multiple parties from around the world contributed to eventually create the World Wide Web. Each piece was its own progression. From nuclear threats to a distributed network to packet switching technology, the ARPANET, standard protocols such as TCP/IP, and connecting each new network to form one big one, the Internet could not have happened overnight. Rome was not built in a day, but, considering the global accessibility to the Internet today, it seems almost miraculous that such a system came to be within five short decades. It was built to be a market of information for researchers to share findings and experiments. The Internet was eventually globally accessible but still as a means for connecting research. For the public to be able to benefit from the wealth of knowledge sent over the Internet is a favor to the people. The average citizen contributes minimally to the Internet’s structure, if not solely in paying his/her ISP, and gains tremendously in return on a constant basis. It is a privilege often taken for granted. The FCC took this imbalance for granted when it decided to regulate the built-in system rather than promote its development and success. (from Conclusion)