1. What is net neutrality? Why are companies divided on whether it is a good idea?
2. Why is net neutrality such a controversial issue right now? How might it affect businesses that market on the Internet?

The concept of “net neutrality” is that companies that provide Internet service should treat all content the same. A small blog should be treated the same as a corporate website, YouTube, or any other kind of content. Net neutrality has been a central concept behind the egalitarian nature of the Internet in that everyone’s content is equal in the eyes of service providers.

However, this idea has come under threat in a debate over whether Internet providers should be allowed to give preferential treatment to their own content or content providers who pay extra for a faster connection. If allowed, this system would create a two-tier system wherein Internet providers’ preferred content received faster download speeds and preferential treatment over the rest of the content on the Web. It would benefit the largest Internet provider companies by giving them a way to increase revenues and to choose preferential content.

Google and Verizon came out with an alternative proposal that would benefit them as major producers of smartphones and other wireless devices. The two companies proposed that net neutrality remain for wired connections (i.e. home computers), but that the two-tiered system be allowed for wireless connections. Opponents of this suggestion cite the increasing prevalence of wireless connections over wired ones. Even in their homes, people increasingly have access to wireless Internet connections. Opponents of this proposal further worry that, if Internet providers are allowed to pick and choose which content will receive preferential access, they will also be able to block content espousing controversial or dangerous ideas.

Fueling this debate was a notable court defeat. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has upheld the notion of net neutrality, but the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that it does not have the authority to force broadband providers to uphold the neutrality of the Internet. Comcast had brought the FCC to court and the ruling represented a huge victory for the cable and Internet giant. Since the ruling, the FCC has been scrambling for ways to regulate the Internet in order to ensure fairness. The issue regained urgency with the Google and Verizon proposal, with organizations and individuals coming out strongly in favor for or against it.

The issue of net neutrality has divided corporations, with AT&T and other large companies supporting the idea of a two-tier system and Facebook backing net neutrality. Many argue that it is not fair to force people and organizations to pay for preferential access to a system that has been equally open to everyone up to this point. In many ways, having a paid fast lane and a slow lane would defeat the purpose of the Internet as a vast repository of information available for anyone who wants to contribute.