Friday, December 29, 2017

What will the disappearance of Net Neutrality affect Indie Authors?

Will the Net Neutrality ban mean the end of indie authors? 

The BookTown Team



Will the Net Neutrality ban mean the end of indie authors?
I love to write. And the internet gives me a great platform for doing so. However, recently there had been a vote in the FCC to repeal the Net Neutrality Law. I wanted to set out to investigate how the Net Neutrality ban will affect indie authors such as myself, as well as the thousands of people who write to supplement their income, or do it for a living.

To fully understand where we are today, we need to understand how we ended up here. Under the Obama administration, a rule was created within the FCC to ensure a free internet for all. This, however, was recently repealed after the Trump Administration appointed a new bureaucrat to the commission – Ajit Pai.

Ajit is rumored to be the designer behind the repeal, and at the time up to the vote, the FCC opened up to comments about the repeal. They received 20 million comments, where millions of these were positive comments calling to go through with the repeal.

This might indicate that the Net Neutrality repeal isn’t that big of a deal, and that it might actually be able to benefit the consumers, right?

So what's the problem? During an investigation, it was discovered that these positive comments were bots.

When the democratic lawmakers found out about this, they told the FCC to postpone the vote, but the FCC ignored them and started the vote. Now, one may wonder why there is such a rush to get the vote through. I mean, you would expect the FCC and Ajit Pai to be looking out for the consumers best interest, so of course, they should have postponed the vote. It gets better, however. when you find out exactly what net neutrality does, and why it's not only necessary to writers but also crucial to all people to keep it the way it is.

The Net Neutrality Law ensured that internet service providers can't use their powers to block or slow down your internet, depending on what sites you visit.

Let's use a quick example: You're one of the millions of Americans who use Comcast as your ISP. Let's say that you write a lot on a (fictional) freelance platform called wewritealot.com. Now, if this site typically receives a lot of traffic, Comcast could see that this site is putting a strain on their cables and on their equipment, and could see this as an opportunity to gain more money. They contact the platform and tell them that they need to pay more for server traffic. If the site refuses, or if they simply don't have the money to pay, your internet service provider would be able to slow down, or even block your connection to the site.

However, since Comcast is interested in earning money, they could try to flip the bill to the consumers. Which means that they can take a look and see if you research on Google and Wikipedia, and publish on wewritealot.com. This way, they can start charging you extra for visiting these three sites.

This sounds absolutely insane, right? Well, that’s also what the Obama administration thought. (thanks, Obama!) And this is what the Net Neutrality Law today prevents. It acts as a watchdog, that makes sure that we all have the same access to the internet (more or less).

As an indie author, you might also do some research from time to time. Imagine if your access to Wikipedia got slowed, or even blocked? Or CNN, or…. Google? We all need to realize the fact, that this is not a good thing. There is absolutely no possible positive outcome of removing the Net Neutrality Law, and there are no redeeming qualities or benefits to be seen. This only adds more power to the Internet Service Providers, and if you’re like the two thirds of all Americans who only have one choice of your provider – you could end up in trouble, because in the worst case scenario, you can very well face the issue of having to either pay up to visit the content you were used to, or start living without the internet.

There are also a lot of questions raised about how the vote was initiated. The internet companies have told the FCC (and the public) that they would be willing to invest a lot more in internet infrastructure if this law was repealed. However, this just goes to show that they're not out for the consumer's best interest. They want control, they want power, and they hate being regulated. The last time there was a change of regulation in the field, was in 2005.

Before this time, the internet service providers were obligated to let other companies use their towers and masts, in order to secure a free market. In 2005 this law was removed, and where the Americans in just the Washington area alone previously had 18 companies to choose from, now they we're down to 5, which promptly aligned their prices, speeds, and services – and as the situation is today, only a third of these people are located in such a way, that it's possible to switch provider.

Conclusion:
All in all, I set out to find out how the Net Neutrality ban will affect indie authors. And I must admit that I'm scared of the outcome of this repeal. This could potentially remove our possibilities of finding sources, submitting content, brainstorm, and co-op with other writers, looking for inspiration etc.

These are all things that are crucial to indie writers, business entrepreneurs, students and pretty much everyone! Thankfully, there are some people who are still fighting for us.

Lots of senators, Attorney generals – and even members of the FCC have said that they will attempt to legally stop the repeal. – Oh, and they have some pretty interesting backup in their corner. Google, Facebook, and Amazon have said that they are ready to take legal action against the repeal.

If you want to help, you can contact either your Senator, State Attorney General, or your Congressman.

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