Author: Gil Regev / Source: The Next Web
To the great dismay of internet advertisers and publishers, the US Federal Communications Commission voted to do away with regulations ensuring net neutrality in December 2017 — protections largely seen as vital to keeping the internet open and free. On the contrary, the government argued, freedom from the burden of net neutrality will help the economy flourish and innovation soar.
But we all know there’s a catch: Without mandated net neutrality, internet service providers gain complete control over the flow of digital content, leaving everyone else at their mercy.
Net neutrality is still alive and well, it’s just across the Atlantic ocean, in the European Union. In fact, the EU now stands as one of the largest markets where net neutrality still reigns. The 2015 open internet law established commercial regulations that permanently prevent European internet service providers from favoring or discriminating against particular internet traffic, and demands transparency from all ISPs operating in Europe.
What’s the big deal?
Essentially, net neutrality holds that everyone in the digital universe should enjoy free and open access to all information on the web, visiting any site they choose, and get the same level of service every time — always equal to the level of service all other users receive.
US net neutrality regulations, enacted in 2015, were designed to protect users from the possibility that powerful internet service providers like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T might speed up or slow down service to specific sites, or even block particular content or sites.
The idea was to give every internet user a fair chance to access content from any source. Now that net neutrality regulations have been struck down, ISPs in the US are free to favor some sites over others, providing speedier service to…
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