By Horace Assar and Princess Ganutan, Courier Staff Writers
If you’re a regular internet user (just about everyone), your future may be 
drastically different in just a few days. On December 14, the FCC will likely repeal the Net Neutrality laws that have ensured equal internet access for years.
Net Neutrality, simply put, allows everyone–regardless of income–to have the same web speeds on the same websites. Under these laws, telecom providers like AT&T and Comcast are prohibited from giving priority access (speeding up, slowing down, or blocking certain sites) to certain users who pay more.
The FCC regulates all our country’s telecommunications, including internet access and wireless spectrum. This government agency’s Net Neutrality policies have been on the edge ever since 2010, when a federal court struck down its open order that would have prohibited telecom companies from blocking internet traffic and designating users to slow/fast lanes.
The incoming of a new FCC chairman certainly hasn’t helped the fight for Net Neutrality. Previously, Democrat Tom Wheeler fought for our Net Neutrality rights in the Obama era. With the election of Trump, a new Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, seeks to strike down these rights as soon as possible.
When asked about his views on Net Neutrality, Courier Editor-in-Chief Bryce Liao stated, “Just like all public necessities, the internet should be equally available to everyone. The FCC is misleading in claiming that repealing Net Neutrality allows individuals ‘freedom’ in having options to pay for faster access to certain sites. They fail to emphasize that everyone else who doesn’t pay will be disadvantaged on those websites.”
If the FCC repeals Net Neutrality next week, our fellow Americans would “constantly be trying to one-up each other, just to retain the same equal internet access as before”, Liao stated. “If one guy pays 100$ for faster access to YouTube, another avid YouTuber might pay 100$ as well. And if everybody pays 100$, well, their internet speed on YouTube would be the exact same as before. It’s the telecom companies that would rake in 100$ per person.”
Recently, even Wheeler stated that the FCC’s own open internet rules ban the type of regulations that would be set forth by Pai’s new bill. From throttling specific content to allowing ISP’s to set up slow/fast lanes, repealing Net Neutrality would essentially be illegal.
Repealing Net Neutrality gives internet power to the wealthy, creates an unending source of profit for the already-rich telecom companies, and sows conflict within ordinary individuals. As a regular user of the internet, among many other, I support Net Neutrality.
You can join the movement to fight against the FCC by visiting battleforthenet.com, and making your statement soon. Remember, we only have until December 14th.