You’ve probably heard a lot about Net Neutrality in the last few years, and recently it is back in the news. Canada, and the world, will be affected in many different ways if Net Neutrality in the USA ends. But what does it mean exactly?
What is Net Neutrality?
Basically, Net Neutrality is the principle foundational rule of the Internet that means all web services are treated equally. This means that there cannot be content that is placed in a slow lane, thereby reducing the amount of people accessing it, or blocking the content entirely. Without Net Neutrality, an Internet provider can charge websites and users special fees to avoid slowdowns. In other words, an Internet provider could make accessing a particular website extremely slow if the site’s owner doesn’t pay the fees. The only ones that this benefits are the Internet providers themselves, as they can collect money from Internet users and website owners.