9 The Norse Code
Is Net Neutrality Truly a “Good” Thing?
Internet providers may change the World Wide Web as we know it
Sophomore Scout Jessop reluctantly gives her wifi router the
last of her money. With Net Neutrality on the verge of
disappearing, this may explicitly express the near future.
BY MAYA HARTIG
J
anuary 1, 2018 marked the
35th birthday of the modern
internet; over the years, the World
Wide Web has flexed and folded
to meet the needs of those using
it. Once modification after modi-
fication had taken place, a man
named Tim Berner-Lee created
the World Wide Web for public
use. Thus, essentially, laying the
basis for the level of communica-
tion taken for granted today.
Why does this matter? Well,
after over a decade of controversy,
the Internet is potentially going
to change again, and some people
feel that it could be for the worse.
Anyone actively following
politics knows that on December
14, 2017, the Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC) voted to
repeal the Net Neutrality law, also
known as Title II, which currently
allows public users to decide what
they wish to see on their ‘magic
boxes,’ so to speak. If this allow-
ance is retracted, then Internet
service providers—namely,
Comcast, Charter, AT&T, and
January 2018
not be loading.
“While maybe Net Neutrality
needs to be—like, the law needs to
be adjusted—the basis of the fact
that we can have a free internet is
vital and important,” said senior
Riley Hoveland.
Without Net Neutrality, things
may go horribly wrong. TV bills
could soar, wifi could be ex-
tremely limited, American media
could become censored, etc. On
the other hand, Pai could have
the right idea; maybe by modify-
ing America’s internet, they could
open the door to innovation and
faster connections.
The problem is that no one real-
ly knows; there is no realistic way
to predict the future, unfortunate-
ly. So, anyone who cares about
Net Neutrality (and according to
Hoveland, “Every single person
A
who uses the internet should care
ll of the other murders had
about Net Neutrality,”) needs to
Story Time
Verizon—will have close to total happened in the same way:
get their voice heard. It is never
control over what their subscrib- people disappearing from their
too early to start standing up for
ers see. loving families only to have their
With Liz
one’s beliefs, and the best way to
“A lot of people are against it,” lifeless bodies appear a week later.
do that is to speak out as loud as
said government teacher Stormy Our first encounter with the odd
possible.
Taylor, “and obviously big compa- deaths was when a dark-haired
nies are for it, because it is going BY ELIZABETH KIRBY
girl, Monique, disappeared into
to help them out.” the tall grass of her family’s farm
The goal of the Net Neutrality and failed to appear for dinner
repeal is to begin “returning to that night. Her family worried for
the light-touch Title I framework; six nights; on the seventh, they
we are helping consumers and found her favorite pair of check-
promoting competition,” said FCC ered Vans in their barn’s attic, but
chairman Ajit Pai in a statement. the rest of her was never found.
“It is time for us to act to bring The second was a boy by the
faster, better, and cheaper Internet name of Jared. A quiet, lanky, and
access to all Americans.” kind boy, he never strayed far from
Pai, in this statement, continued their single acre lot out in the
to explain how networks will be woods. Oddly enough, they found
encouraged to upgrade from 4G his signature sweatshirt along the
to 5G, megabyte speeds to gigabit side of the road...30 miles from
speeds, so on and so forth. “In their home.
short, it’s a freer and more open The killings shocked our little
internet,” he noted. corner in the middle of nowhere,
Some members of the public, but no one ever talked of a dark,
however, are more concerned with cloaked figure. Up until now I
the freedom of themselves and had thought it was just me being
their fellow peers than how fast hunted. That was until I met Hat-
their YouTube video may or may tie... To be continued?