Net Neutrality Saved In The Senate

Senate voted not to overturn net neutrality rules today, these rules don’t even take place until November 20. The Republican-backed measure failed 52-46 and the president had said he would have vetoed the measure if the Senate passed it. This is a challenging topic to understand, let’s let Wired explain it:

The rules at issue allow cable and DSL subscribers to use the websites, programs and online services of their choice, and prohibit providers such as Comcast and AT&T from blocking or degrading services they don’t like – such as online video or internet phone calls that compete with those companies’ other offerings. Mobile internet providers, such as Verizon and Sprint, are given much more leeway, but can’t block services like Skype and have to be transparent about how they manage their networks when they are congested.

In other words, whoever is providing your Internet service cannot affect how that service allows you to access content. Think about the AOL dial-up days; what if AOL let you have faster access to its news than to NewsTaco’s? Those are the kinds of things we are talking about.

Net neutrality is super important to you, even if you don’t know it, a Google search would be more than enough to convince you. Without net neutrality, blogs and sites like NewsTaco wouldn’t be able to exit or compete with bigger media.