Okay Geek Farm
Poll: Only 1 in 5 people say "Yes" to Net Neutrality
Ricardo Trejo
In a recent US survey, only 21% of likely voters said they were in favor of Net Neutraility. Pretty shocking to say the least, however it seems that politics and people’s fear against anything government regulated could be playing a large part in all of this.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality by definition, according to Wikipedia: “Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a buzzword used to describe a principle proposed for users’ access to networks participating in the Internet. The principle advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers and governments on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and the modes of communication.”
In other words, freedom from any group — including internet service providers — from selectively choosing which sites and online services user have access to. If you’ve been following stories across the web and blogs throughout these past few years then you undoubtedly have heard about tiered internet packages in which ISP’s would offer different prices for different sites and services you could visit.
To better explain, look at the image above. As part of the American Dream, companies have the right to do whatever they want with their product, correct? Only problem is that the internet isn’t anyone’s product. And access to it shouldn’t be tiered or selective, which is contrary to internet service providers such as Comcast, Time Warner, and so on, who would make a killing off of people having to purchases rights to watch Youtube then separately having to pay another fee to have email.
Is that the internet you want?
Well, according to this poll, only 4 in 5 people do. But then again, this could all be attributed to ignorance, seeing as net neutrality isn’t much of a talking point on CNN, let alone Bill O’Reilly’s show. Not to mention that the question asked in this telephone survey was worded like this: “Should the Federal Communications Commission regulate the Internet like it does radio and television?”
Just say any words that tie the government to regulation and people flip out. It’s an interesting topic for sure, but not one without hundreds of differing opinions — opinions which are biased and based off a hatred for one specific political party. In fact, in the same poll, 56% of the voters believed that the FCC would promote some kind of political agenda in the way it would watch over the internet. That’s more than a 50/50 split. Talk about mass paranoia in the USA and the lack of confidence in its own government.
The best thing people can do is stop listening to political parties and members who are solely out there to get on the public’s good side, saying anything that will tickle the ears of their voters. What the uninformed masses need to do is get online and visit sites like theopeninter.net and savetheinternet.com videos such as these:
In the end, it’s going to be up to the everday voter on what exactly will happen to the internet they preciously care about. Imagine a day in which Facebook and Google are only accessible on Time Warner, and you happen to be in a place where Time Warner isn’t even an option as your ISP. Then you my friend would be screwed. No one wants that to happen — not even the 79% people who voted against or were unsure of their stance on the subject.
