The Concept Of Network Neutrality

The concept of network neutrality, which has often been shortened to “net neutrality”, is a common expression that was presented by Tim Wu back in 2003 (Wu, 2003). Tim did represent the vital question that has been perceived to be of less concern: free access to the internet, is it a right or a privilege? (Luo, Blum, Cimini, Greenstein, & Haimovich, 2007). Network neutrality generally refers to the standard that all legal and permissible information should be rightfully treated as equal by all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and all other responsible establishments and organizations.

These standards create a framework where all the service providers are on the ground and do not create any form or form of special treatment of data based on its sole type. This also ensures that all the sites that act as the hosts, the carrier network, and the end users are on the same page. The standard also caters for the charges paid by individual end-users to the Internet Service Providers for access to Internet content. Any form of action that results in the breach of the above results in a total violation of the notion of net neutrality.

This network neutrality concept then has raised mixed reactions all over the globe and especially in most of the global network communication centers. The issue whether every concept under networks should be neutralized and made to be on the same level has made the topic to be a major focal point where majority of arguments and discussions may arise from. For over a decade now, the same concept has been under numerous debates in this twenty-first century. Most of these debates are based on the principle that Internet Service Providers should not alter any set principle that concerns the Internet.

The belief that the internet has maintained its full potential of transforming the world fully based on our modes of communication still remains. This remains in the personal and commercial set interests of the in the face of the Internet Service Providers who remain firm in their base argument that the market can only remain competitive by having different services and a different performance and presentation ground. In 2003, Wu noted that; “Without the network neutrality, the providers could block down the sites that they did not feel as important or not like at all. They could also control and regulate on what services and equipment each user could have a right to use, prescribe whether users were allowed to access specified services and at what time that was to happen” (Wu, 2003).

The ideology of network neutrality traces its main roots to the tradition of a common method of data movement. These include the common means of transport that human beings use in their daily lives (roads, railways, aeroplanes, and telecommunication forms, which include fax and telephone services). These traditional forms of data movement could not discriminate their mode of movement and the kind of equipment that was to be moved. Important information was never ranked as a useful kind that was to be differentiated from any other kind and moved under a separate entity. This then gave the layout of the vital and useful activity that keeps the globe in motion and sees all the undergoing developments moving forward as planned, (Solarte-Vasquez, 2013).

This heated argument about the issue of network neutrality over the major network and service providers still pushes the set laws and the existing set standards and state of the network. With the alteration of the standards, then we will expect some companies to offer better services and induce a competitive nature in the market, which will lead to network purification and the introduction of better and better service providers. With the introduction of website and content blocking, then the young generation will be safe to use the internet and the ISPs will ensure that all the material content that is insignificant will be filtered off beyond their reach. Also, some companies like Comcast have introduced a charging fee that would favour the speed of some important websites, and by this, any material content that is useful will be easily accessible. With these steps, there will be a great development and a phase where the government, lawsuits, firms and other related agencies will provide the best line of suit to their citizens and businesses to access their profits rightfully, have greater innovations and expand positively.

Work Cited

Luo, J., Blum, R. S., Cimini, L. J., Greenstein, L. J., & Haimovich, A. M. (2007). Decode-and-forward cooperative diversity with power allocation in wireless networks. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 6(3).

Solarte-Vasquez, M. C. (2013). Regulatory patterns of the internet development: Expanding the role of private Stakeholders through Mediatized “Self-regulation.” Baltic Journal of European Studies, 3(1), 84–120.

Wu, T. (2003). Network neutrality, broadband discrimination. J. on Telecomm. & High Tech. L., 2, 141.