"Loading" Circles
On Sept. 10, Internet giants Netflix, WordPress and Reddit, among others, prominently displayed dreaded “loading” circles, like the one pictured. The circles were a daunting reminder of what the Internet could be like without net neutrality.
What is Net Neutrality?
Net neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers (ISPs) shouldn’t play favorites, allowing access and unaltered speeds to all sites. For example, the internet without net neutrality would allow ISPs, like Verizon, the ability to charge sites for faster speeds. This potentially hurts small businesses and websites who may struggle to pay for accessibility.
Sept. 10 Net Neutrality Protests
Sept. 10 was Internet Slowdown Day. Internet Slowdown Day didn’t actually slow sites. Instead, popular sites included “loading” circle images, warning that the web without net neutrality could cause frustrating slow loading times.
D.C. Court Ruling Revives Net Neutrality Debate
Net neutrality is how the internet operates now. However, net neutrality has been threatened by a Sept. 9 federal court ruling that curbed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) authority to protect net neutrality. 
A court ruling denied the FCC regulatory powers over broadband carriers. Image: Pixabay
On Sept. 9, the Washington D.C. U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that FCC net neutrality regulations violated the Communications Commission’s own broadband company regulations. The FCC has regulatory powers over common carriers, but the FCC exempts broadband providers.
This means now that nothing is stopping ISPs from violating net neutrality by outright blocking content or charging sites for fast access. In the case, Verizon said they would like to charge sites.
The ruling renewed the net neutrality debate that occurred in 2012 when Congress proposed, and eventually indefinitely postponed voting on, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). SOPA and PIPA were copyright enforcement bills that caused controversy over provisions that would’ve effectively allowed ISPs to censor sites that hosted pirated property, such as illegally downloaded music. In 2012, Google and other major sites protested by blacking out parts of their site, warning what the web would look like under SOPA and PIPA.
How Losing Net Neutrality Could Kill Your Business
Without net neutrality, small businesses could have to pay a fee to ISPs for the ability to be accessed on the network. For example, a world without net neutrality would allow ISPs, like Time Warner or Verizon, to charge ACS (and all others) to have the ACS site load quickly.
If businesses can pay for faster speeds, then big businesses can use their deep pockets to pay for speeds that will make it near impossible for small businesses to compete. A Feb. 29, 2012 New York Times report said that computer users will visit a site less if it’s just 250 milliseconds slower than a competitors.
How ACS Can Help
For now, the net is safely neutral. However, many businesses are already losing potential clients because their site’s slow. All ACS website designs optimize load speeds, providing clients with a very valuable competitive advantage.
Contact us today to speed up your site and generate more leads.