Were you thinking about doing some binging on Netflix tonight? Perhaps you were looking at photos and want to post one of them on Tumblr? You might also want to shop on Etsy for your sister’s birthday in two weeks. If you do anything of these things when you get home from work, you will notice that all of these sites have something in common…a spinning wheel, showing it is loading.
Here’s the deal. As the fall elections creep closer and the FCC looks to close up the public comment period for their Open Internet proposal, a number of sites including Netflix, Tumblr and Etsy are asking their visitors to contact both the FCC and Congress to share their support for reclassifying broadband Internet. They want the Internet to fall under the “common carrier” rules that already control things like your phone service and electricity. Though this isn’t the only proposal on the table, it is the one that could totally block ISPs from giving a “fast lane” to the sites who pay them more.
Though a “fast lane” might seem good for you, as “fast” is always positive when talking about an Internet connection, it is also very important to remember that there is also going to be a “slow lane.” Those in the “slow lane”, and there will be millions of sites that are in the “slow lane” including those you use every day, could potentially fall into a slow, crawling mess. How slow? Think dial-up from the 1990s. If this happens and Internet quality is not distributed equally, you will see a lot more buffering, a lot more interruption and browsing the web could become extremely frustrating.
As you browse the Internet tonight look for petitions, widgets and other notifications about net neutrality. All of the sites you use every day, including PopWrapped, have a stake in this. If you want to keep things as they are and not see this “fast lane”/”slow lane” idea come to pass, take a minute and sign the petition, call your members of Congress and take a stand. Though the FCC is ultimately responsible for the decision, Congress certainly will have an impact on the results.
Do it tonight, as today is the only Day of Action scheduled and things will end tonight at midnight.
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