Net Neutrality: Pros And Cons

BANGALORE: Certain sections of the internet have been rocked with talk of ‘net neutrality’ recently. Software developers are giving interviews about it, comedians are making videos about it, there’s an online petition circulating and Shah Rukh Khan recently tweeted in support of it. But what does it mean, and how is it important to you?  Thehindu.com has compiled a list of FAQ’s on the topic, to get you up to speed.

What is net neutrality?

Net neutrality is the principle that all data on the internet is equal, and must be treated equally with no discrimination on the basis of content, user or design by governments and Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). 

For example, the Dainik Jagran is a widely popular online newspaper, while the Hindi Milaap has comparatively fewer visitors to their website. Right now, if the Milaap wanted to boost their page views, they would have to write more engaging stories and find ways to share their content so that more people read it.

They are not allowed to make deals with ISP’s to charge customers less money if they visit the Milaap website. Net Neutrality means that Internet Service Providers should bill you on the amount of bandwidth you have consumed, and not on which website you visited.

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