Just as its name indicates, net neutrality is about creating a neutral internet. The general principle driving net neutrality is that it should be a free and open platform, treated almost like any other utility we use in our home/office. Users should be able to use their bandwidth however they want (legally), and internet service providers (ISP’s) should not be able to offer priority service to any particular area of the internet. Every web site, whether it’s Amazon, Netflix, Yahoo, or BrandNewStartUp.com, should all be treated the same when it comes to giving users the bandwidth to reach the internet services they prefer. Your gas company has no say over how you use it—they only get to charge you for providing the gas. Net neutrality aims to do something similar with your internet service.
Those against net neutrality—including ISP’s, like Time Warner or AT&T believe that, as service providers of internet access, they should be able to distribute bandwidth differently depending on the service. They’d much rather create tiers of internet service that’s are fee based, where the customer (new business or user) pays for priority access rather than for bandwidth speeds. Therefore they could charge high-bandwidth services—like Netflix, higher fees, since their service costs more for Time Warner to provide to its customers—or they could charge users extra to access Netflix. They can also provide certain services to you at different speeds. For example, perhaps your ISP might give preferential treatment to Amazon Prime, so it streams videos quickly and for free, while Netflix is stuck running slowly we’re charged extra to access it.
So how does this change affect us right now? It doesn’t…up until this point we’ve all been experiencing Net Neutrality, this FCC passings, makes sure our internet access stays the same.