With the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announcing a new set of rules that could lay the foundation for a permit pay-based Internet, the online chatter has increased and questions are now surrounding the FCC proposal and statements.
Many experts believe that if the FCC follows through on its plans, net neutrality could quickly become a thing of the past and lead to more difficulties and frustrations for users, who could face paywalls on a more regular basis, limiting the amount of public information online.
The FCC has fought back against claims it would be dealing a death blow to open source and Internet freedom.
"There are reports that the FCC is gutting the Open Internet rule. They are flat out wrong. Tomorrow we will circulate to the Commission a new Open Internet proposal that will restore the concepts of net neutrality consistent with the court's ruling in January," said the FCC in a statement.
"There is no 'turnaround in policy.' The same rules will apply to all Internet content. As with the original Open Internet rules, and consistent with the court's decision, behavior that harms consumers or competition will not be permitted."
The FCC said it would maintain its previous rulings on net neutrality.
The "turnaround" that many are calling the FCC out on is their acquiescence to large corporations and media companies like Disney, Google, Netflix and others that would give them the opportunity to pay for faster connections, dubbed "fast lanes," that would give them the ability to deliver video content and other materials at a faster speed than rivals and other sites.
This has led many to question the FCC's motives and many are calling for specific answers on the government's role in maintaining equal footing and an equal playing field in the online sphere.
The FCC has not answered many of the concerns, especially those surrounding the fact that larger, wealthier companies like Google and Disney, would be able to use the fast lanes while other, smaller enterprises would be left out in the cold.
It also raises questions over who would determine how the fast lanes would run; leading to more concerns over the neutrality the FCC has claimed for years would be threatened. The fear is that by going this route, the FCC is opening the Internet up to run like a marketplace where the highest bidder wins and equality of access to online information could quickly dissipate.
