What is Net Neutrality?

What is  Net Neutrality:

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et neutrality is the principle that data on the Internet is moved blindly and impartially, without regard to content, destination or source.

Net neutrality describes the idea that whoever provides you Internet access—for example, Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, and so on—should treat all of your Internet traffic, or packets of data, the same way.

In the United States, the U.S. agency responsible with upholding laws related to net neutrality is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is based in Washington, D.C.

Lets take one Example,

Let’s say you use Hulu and Netflix, and often switch between the two to see what’s on. Supporters of net neutrality say that your broadband Internet service provider (ISP) should not be able to charge either Netflix or Hulu, or any other company that depends on the Internet, for a faster connection to you and other customers. Nor should the ISP be able to charge you more to access certain services.

Now in Net neutrality very big issue is Paid prioritization

 Lets see What is Paid Prioritization…….?

The term refers to ISPs charging third party companies for speedier access to those ISPs’ customers. So, say your ISP is Verizon, and you use both Twitter and Facebook. If Twitter pays Verizon to “prioritize” its traffic, and Facebook does not, you would likely experience faster speeds on Twitter: Its pages and apps would load more quickly, and more reliably, than Facebook. (This is what net neutrality supporters are talking about when they discuss “slow lanes” and “fast lanes” on the Internet.)

This arrangement obviously incentivizes both Twitter and Facebook to pay Verizon to prioritize their traffic. But both sites are able to pay Verizon in the first place because they’re already enormous companies, with plenty of money to burn.

And lets know what President Obama  has said:

On , 13 April 2015, in response to a Popular petition

 on WhiteHouse.gov, Obama announced  that he was urging the FCC’s chairman, Tom Wheeler, to implement net neutrality rules by reclassifying ISPs as common carriers.

What happens now?

Obama does not have the authority to change the FCC’s rules, so we may be waiting on any kind of action or decision for the forseeable future. Still, many ISPs are already sounding the alarm about the potential ramifications of Obama’s effort.

“We disagree with the President’s statement that an open Internet can only be achieved by reclassifying broadband as a public utility,” Time Warner Cable CEO Rob Marcus said in a letter echoing his industry’s broader concerns with both Obama’s agenda and the larger debate about net neutrality. Indeed, whatever the FCC decides, and eventually implements, that debate is unlikely to end anytime soon.

And now lets know big update in India is that,

Flipkart CEO Sachin bansal what he had told about Net Neutrality ,

He tweeted saying that when ‘foreign companies’ offer ‘free services’ it is termed as innovation, hinting at the recently introduced Facebook-Reliance Internet.org. The Facebook-Reliance tie-up aims to provide access to popular websites including Facebook with zero data charge across 2G and 3G platforms.

In case of Airtel Zero, this is a programme that will allow app developers who tie-up with the company to allow consumers to access these apps for zero data charge. The app developers, companies will pay Airtel to keep their app usage free. Flipkart is rumoured to be one of the early partners in Airtel Zero.

Flipkart CEO Sachin Bansal defended his company’s decision to tie-up with Airtel, given that they have received a Of  negative reponse in light of the news, especially on social media.