Since its conception, the Internet has been tax free and open to everybody. If you buy access to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider, you may visit any site you wish at any time. All data that is sent or received is mandated by the FCC to be delivered on a first come, first serve basis to its intended recipient in order to promote an open and interconnected flow of information, unregulated by the cable companies that provide it. Corporations such as Verison, AT&T, and Comcast are fighting to gain control of the information that they distribute. By abolishing the mandates of net neutrality, corporations could control what content is seen first and which pages load fastest. Larger sites could pay for preferential treatment of their data, defeating the equal treatment of information that allows any user to visit any site he desires. Without net neutrality, phone companies could create virtual profiling checkpoints on the internet, controlling traffic in a way that prevents the free and easy exchange of ideas.

So much of the internet’s success developed through the ability to freely share information across sites and country borders. The internet’s speed and ease of access give it the power to spread aid in a time of crisis. It can sometimes reveal social injustice in countries that lack other pervasive communication networks. If phone and cable corporations continue to score legal victories against the FCC, the internet as we know it will disappear. Companies like Verison, AT&T, and Comcast will have the right to slow down or block certain information, potentially hindering humanitarian causes that rely on the efficient and all-encompassing network the internet provides. While we cannot be sure how these companies will proceed, some companies have already limited peer-to-peer connectivity, with plans to institute cell-phone like charges to access popular sites. The Obama administration’s stance on net neutrality will influence the struggle between the FCC and phone and cable companies and decide whether the internet will continue to exist as an open and interconnected network.