Net Neutrality:
What is it? What does it mean? Why are late night TV hosts and people on reddit trying to get you to save it?
To answer this question,
We are going to switch up a regular format a bit, and present you with a story,
or more specifically: a nightmare.
Join us as we travel to a different dimension,
a dimension where utilities are not regulated,
a dimension where the concept of a common carrier has never existed, and most alarmingly a world dominated,
unbeknownst to you, by pizza conglomerates.
It's a Saturday, dark and rainy.
You are alone. This Saturday night will not be lightened by a social gathering, a date, or even a dog.
There is only one way to quench the boredom of this night, and that is to eat an entire pizza,
yourself.
Your pizza of choice is Pizza Hut.
You pick up the phone:
Unfortunately for you, the local line infrastructure was built by Papa Johns.
The ringing is interrupted with a message let you know that accessing the Pizza Hut call center is not part of your phone plan.
You are offered a chance to upgrade, or you can pay a one-time fee.
So you pay. It may have cost more than you expected, but at least you have a pizza on the way.
You sit back, relax, and wait.
But your ordeal isn't over.
15 minutes later you get a call from the pizza delivery man.
The news is as bleak as the night that you find yourself prisoner to. It turns out the local highway was
constructed by the Domino's. Domino's feels that Pizza Hut delivery vehicles are the cause of recent traffic jams.
So Domino's issued Pizza Hut an ultimatum. Either pay up, or be forced off the highway's special fast lane.
The Hut has refused the tax, and as a result their drivers are now stuck in
slow-moving traffic, and you won't be getting your pizza anytime soon.
In despair you resort to making yourself a small microwave pizza. But as the turntable turns, the power dims:
There's been a heat wave recently, and the power company has been feeling stretched.
It has rerouted most of the energy to customers with First-class energy plans.
Furthermore, they don't believe in delivering energy to microwaves. The energy company happens to be...Little Caesars.
[Maniacal laughing]
Wow! How awful! But what if you don't care for pizza?
(You soulless ghoul you!) Well in practical terms, net neutrality advocates
worry that in a world where the internet isn't treated like a utility,
Internet providers might be able to act like the tyrannical pizza companies of this alternate dimension.
Because an internet service provider is in between you and the rest of the internet,
they could control which web sites you can see,
which websites and web services load fast and which load slowly,
favor some users over others, and
even block you from sending certain types of data, or using certain types of applications. But how realistic - or not -
is this nightmare scenario? Well, you'll have to watch our next video to find out!
See you soon!
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