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Mason Weyland

Stacie Weatbrook

July 2, 2018

English 2010

Net Neutrality

Internet Society. Policy Brief Network Neutrality. 30 October 2015. 5 July 2018.

The article Policy Brief Network Neutrality, written the Internet Society, explains what net

neutrality is. “Network neutrality is a complex and controversial topic and is an important part of

a free and open Internet. Enabling access, choice, and transparency of Internet offerings empowers

users to benefit from full access to services, applications, and content available on the Internet.”

Internet Society explained. In laymen terms it means that all data gets treated equally.

This is a credible source to use because it is from a website that is all about internet life.

This will help in my research because it is a good place to start, it explains what net neutrality is.

It gives the reader a general understanding of what it is.

Collins, Keith. Why Net Neutrality was repealed and how it affects you. New York Times.

14 December 2017. 8 July 2018. (Collins)

In this article written by Keith Collins of the New York times, he starts of by talking about

the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) on how they voted to repeal the net neutrality

laws. The agencies chairman Ajit Pai, has long opposed the regulations claiming that they
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“impeded innovation.” Ajit Pai has also on one occasion said that the regulations are “hypothetical

harms and hysterical prophecies of doom.” After this Collins goes on to explain the regulations

that were repealed. Those regulations are blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. Collins

continues and gives a brief explanation of what each one of these are.

Blocking: Internet service providers could not discriminate against any lawful content by blocking

websites or apps.

Throttling: Service providers could not slow the transmission of data based on the nature of the

content, as long as it is legal.

Paid Prioritization: Service providers could not create an internet fast lane for companies and

consumers who pay premiums, and a slow lane for those who don’t.

After this he then goes on to explain how this could affect you. Collins gives an example from

Portugal. A mobile carrier has internet packages to choose from. You have to choose what websites

you want to have access to, a lot like cable t.v.

I believe this to be a credible source because it is a news firm that has been around for a

long time. This fits into my research by explaining why it was repealed and what exactly was

repealed.

Adams, R. Helen. Harris, Christopher. Net Neutrality, why it matters to school librarians. Teacher

Librarian. April 2018. 8 July 2018. (HELEN R. ADAMS)

In the beginning of this article, Harris and Adams give a brief out line of what net neutrality

is and what it does. After this the two authors explained that net neutrality was beneficial to schools
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“Teachers, librarians and students in K–12 schools have benefited enormously from effective and

equitable access to Internet resources, applications, educational materials, and communities of

learning.” After explaining that schools benefit from having net neutrality, Harris and Adams

explain the drawbacks of the repeal, “The dismantling of Net Neutrality places this educational

innovation at risk, as the speed and quality of access is eroded, and all ideas and perspectives are

not treated equally.” Without net neutrality schools could be limited in every way on the internet.

Internet companies can legally limit the content of websites that students, teachers and librarians

can get.

This article is very credible because I found it on a database through the school library.

This helps with my research because it gives readers an inside view of what could happen in

schools and library’s around the nation. Schools could have to pay more for internet. Some public

schools right now are underfunded, so there would be no way they could afford the cost of what

the internet could cost in the future.

Abrams, Rhonda. Losing net neutrality is a loss for small businesses. USA Today. 30 May 2018.

8 July 2018. (Abrams)

Adams starts off talking about small business week and how “entrepreneurs descended

on senators’ offices”. Small businesses are petitioning to reverse the repeal of net neutrality.

Adams, who lives close to Silicon Valley, knows the issue of net neutrality well. She claims that

the repeal is going to “would stifle competition from smaller companies and innovative

entrepreneurs.” This is a bold claim, on the surface. She starts to explain why she claims this. She

quotes Evan Greer about the repeal and what it could do to small businesses. Evan Greer states
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that it "amounts to a tax on small businesses that they just can't afford.” He then goes on to explain

that the large companies could make deals with internet providers, deals that small businesses

wouldn’t be able to make. Large businesses would kill their small business rivals.

I would say that this is a credible source because it’s from USA Today. Also, the author

Rhonda Adams, lives close to Silicon Valley as she stated in the article. She would know some of

the issues that she was talking about. This article will help with my research because it shines light

on an issue that people might not have thought about. Small businesses are a major part of the

economy and if they go under, the economy would tank.

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References
Abrams, Rhonda. Lossing net neutrality is a loss for small businesses. 30 May 2018. 2018 July 2018.
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/abrams/2018/05/30/small-business-lose-
if-net-neutrality-goes-away/653679002/>.

Collins, Keith. New York Times. 14 December 2017. 8 July 2018.

<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/technology/net-neutrality-rules.html>.

HELEN R. ADAMS, CHRISTOPHER HARRIS. "Net Neutrality, why it matters to school librarians." TEACHER
LIBRARIAN (2018): 8-12.

Society, Internet. Internet Scociety. 30 October 2015. 5 July 2018.

<https://www.internetsociety.org/policybriefs/networkneutrality/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7oyb48
KJ3AIVCQmRCh2nlgsPEAAYASAAEgL3ZvD_BwE>.