Paper on net neutrality. What is it? And why is it important?

1. 700 University Ave
Monroe, LA 71209
April 21, 2014
Dr. Claudia Grinnell
English Professor
University of Louisiana at Monroe
700 University Ave
Monroe, LA 71209
Dear Dr. Grinnell:
This report was written for my Professional Writing class. This topic was assigned to us at the
beginning of April. The title of this research paper is “The Importance of Net Neutrality.”
This report talks about why keeping the net neutrality policy alive is important, gives a brief
history on the internet, and talks about arguments against net neutrality. In my research I have
concluded that we, as American citizens, have the right to an internet that does not discriminate.
Everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from, should be able to have the same
speed and quality of the internet. I, for one, am afraid that if net neutrality is abolished then I will
not be able to pay extra for this “new” internet.
Thank you for taking the time to read my report.
Sincerely,
Ashley Toups
Ashley Toups
Student at University of Louisiana at Monroe

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The Importance of Net Neutrality
Ashley D. Toups
University of Louisiana at Monroe
April 21, 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………………………………...1
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………….2
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………….3
IMPORTANCE OF NET NEUTRALITY (level 1 heading)………...………………………..4-10
The Internet (level 1 subheading)……………………………………………………….4-6
Net Neutrality (level 2 subheading)……………………………………………..6-7
Problems (level 3 subheading)………………………………………….7-8
Arguments (level 4 subheading)…………………………………..8
Conclusion (level 5 subheading)………………………8-10
REFERENCES CITED………………………………………………………………………11-12

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THE IMPORTANCE OF NET NEUTRALITY
Ashley D. Toups
University of Louisiana at Monroe
Abstract
This report talks about net neutrality and its importance, history of the internet, problems
consumers will encounter if the net neutrality policy is abolished, arguments against net
neutrality, and what I have concluded. This report‟s purpose is to inform the reader about net
neutrality. It will discuss what net neutrality is and why we need to stand up to Congress in order
to save the internet and keep net neutrality.
Net neutrality means that everyone can access the internet at the same “speed” and “quality”
as everyone else (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). The internet made its start as an idea in 1962, and
then became a reality and has grown ever since then (Computer History Museum, 2004).
Without net neutrality some website we want to use might be “degraded or blocked off” by our
internet providers (Network Neutrality, n.d.). I believe our phone and cable companies that
provide us with internet are starting to get very greedy with money. I signed the petition to keep
net neutrality. I believe the internet should not be prejudiced.

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The Importance of Net Neutrality
Net neutrality means that everyone gets the same “speed” and “quality” of the internet (Net
Neutrality 101, 2014). This paper will discuss the history of the internet, why net neutrality is
important, the arguments against net neutrality, and much more.
The Internet
The internet was first envisioned and talked about in 1962 by a man
named J.C.R. Licklider of MIT (Leiner et al., 2013). He called it the
“Galactic Network” (Leiner et al., 2013). J.C.R. Licklider is pictured in
Figure 1.
In 1966 Lawrence G. Roberts established the internet idea at DARPA
and organized his proposal for “ARPANET”, which was published in
1967 (Leiner et al., 2013). “When SRI connected to the ARPANET, the
first host-to-host message was sent from Leonard Kleinrock‟s
laboratory to SRI” (Leiner et al., 2013). Four host computers were set
up and connected through ARPANET “by the end of 1969” (Leiner et al.,
2013). After this success, many computers were starting to be added to
ARPANET throughout the years (Leiner et al., 2013).
In 1970 Steve Crocker‟s Network Working Group (NWG) finished the ARPANET Host-to-
Host protocol, which was called the Network Control Protocol (NCP) (Computer History
Museum, 2004).
By the end of 1971 ARPANET had 19 nodes and “the Network Working Group completed
the Telnet protocol and made progress on the file transfer protocol (FTP) standard” (Computer
History Museum, 2004).
Figure 1: J.C.R. Licklider
Courtesy of Flickr Images

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In 1973 ARPA‟s name changes to DARPA (the „D‟ stands for defense) (Computer History
Museum, 2004). Two programs begin during this year (Computer History Museum, 2004).
“The Packet Radio site are modeled on the ALOHA experiment…” (Computer History Museum,
2004). They networked seven computers on four islands (Computer History Museum, 2004).
The second program was satellite connection (Computer History Museum, 2004). This linked
“to two foreign sites in Norway and the United Kingdom” (Computer History Museum, 2004).
In 1977 the Apple II computer was introduced (Computer History Museum, 2004). “Vint Cerf
and Bob Kahn mount a major demonstration, „internetting‟ among the Packet Radio net,
SATNET, and the ARPANET” (Computer History Museum, 2004). THEORYNET was created
by Larry Landweber of the University of Wisconsin (Computer History Museum, 2004).
THEORYNET enabled emailing between over 100 researchers and much more (Computer
History Museum, 2004).
By 1981 over 200 computers were set up in institutions through CSNET (Computer History
Museum, 2004). This was the year the IBM PC was launched (Computer History Museum,
2004). In 1982 „the computer‟ was named „Man of the Year‟ in Time Magazine (Computer
History Museum, 2004).
In 1984 the Macintosh was introduced by Apple (Computer History Museum, 2004). The
author William Gibson created the term „cyberspace‟ in his book called Neuromancer(Computer
History Museum, 2004). “Datapoint, the first company to offer networked computers, continued
in the marketplace, but failed to achieve critical mass” (Computer History Museum, 2004).
In 1989 networks started to increase in how fast they work (Computer History Museum,
2004). Throughout the year “the number of hosts increased from 80,000…to over 160,000”
(Computer History Museum, 2004).

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In 1990 ARPANET is no longer functioning. “‟The net‟ has grown from 4 to over 300,000
hosts” in the past twenty years (Computer History Museum, 2004). Other countries start to
connect such as Brazil, Chile, Greece, India, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland (Computer
History Museum, 2004). Many “search tools” and “institutions” start to come “on line”, such as
ARCHIE, Gopher, Dow Jones, and Dialog (Computer History Museum, 2004).
More information about the history of the internet is provided in Figure 2 of the timeline.
Net Neutrality
One reason why net neutrality was set up was to keep phone companies like AT&T, that provide
their customers with internet service, would not turn the internet into something like television
channels from a cable company (Marsden, 2010). Customers order television channel packages
through their cable company (Marsden, 2010). Customers pay a certain price to get certain
Figure 2: Internet Timeline
Courtesy of Google Images

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television channels (Marsden, 2010). Net neutrality allows anyone and everyone to access any
website on the internet with the same “speed” and “quality” (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). Without
net neutrality customers might have to pay extra for certain websites, or instead of using Google
they would have to use their internet provider‟s search engine they choose or create (Marsden,
2010).
Problems. “We connect to the internet through pipes owned by
telephone and cable companies” (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). Now
telephone and cable companies want to set up a faster internet but it
would only be available to those who pay them a large fee. Over one
million American citizens have protested this to Congress (Net Neutrality
101, 2014). A protester to save net neutrality is pictured in Figure 3.
Here is an example of what it would be like without net neutrality:
without net neutrality your internet provider could “degrade or block off
entirely” a webpage you are trying to use (Network Neutrality, n.d.). For
instance say you want to use Google but it is running too slow or you cannot
use the webpage at all, therefore, you have to try a different search engine like Yahoo in order to
find what you want (Network Neutrality, n.d.).
Without net neutrality there will be “discrimination, double-dipping, and stifling innovation”
(Net Neutrality 101, 2014). The internet was designed for everyone who wants to use it (Net
Neutrality 101, 2014). It does not matter what social economic class the person is, what race,
gender, religion, etc., anyone can use the internet (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). This is why when
you search something you also get websites most related to your search and not websites that
Figure 3: Protester
Courtesy of Flickr Images

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paid the most to be able to show up in your search (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). “Discrimination
endangers our basic Internet freedoms” (Net Neutrality 101, 2014).
“Double-dipping” is when a network owner will charge for the network you want to get on and
then charge more for the things you do on the network (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). The owners
might not “charge you directly”, “but they will charge your service providers”, and your service
providers will pass the charge down to their customers, you (Net Neutrality 101, 2014).
Net neutrality allows a good start for innovators and enables them to dream big. Without net
neutrality innovators and beginners will not have a chance to grow because larger companies can
pay more money in order to be in the top search lists (Net Neutrality 101, 2014). “On a tiered
Internet controlled by the phone and cable companies, only their own content and services – or
those offered by corporate partners that pony up enough „protection money‟ – will enjoy life in
the fast lane” (Net Neutrality 101, 2014).
Arguments. Congress‟s decisions will play a strong role on our internet (Jordan, 2009).
“Congress is considering legislation” and “debate” over the net neutrality policy issue (Jordan,
2009). Telecom companies argue that advancing systems is expensive and that other large
service providers like Yahoo are “not paying their fair share…and are taking advantage of the
network providers” (Network Neutrality, n.d.). They also argue that tiered internet “is a natural
step in the free market system and if anything, government regulation will only result in greater
market failure” (Network Neutrality, n.d.).
Conclusion.“The net neutrality policy restricts an Internet service Provider‟s ability to engage in
anticompetitive behavior while simultaneously ensuring that it can use desirable forms of
network management” (Jordan, 2009). If net neutrality is taken away and “the internet is tiered,”
the hardest hit “will be to the consumers” (Network Neutrality, n.d.). In order to save net

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neutrality and fight for the internet to be free and open sign the petition here:
http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/tellfcc/. Figure 4 is a graphic that is going around of what the
internet could look like in the
future and it looks scary and
not cheap.

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References
Ahybridosi. [Photographer]. (2009). J.C.R. Licklider [Photograph]. Retrieved
from https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=J.C.R.%20Licklider
Computer History Museum. (2004). Computer History Museum. Retrieved April 25, 2014,
fromhttp://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_70s.html
Figure 1 – Internet Timeline [Photograph]. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&
bih=666&q=internet+timeline&oq=internet+ti&gs_l=img.3.0.0l10.1139.4555.0.6162.11.
10.0.1.1.0.562.1668.5j3j1j5-
1.10.0....0...1ac.1.42.img..2.9.1201.CunKVE32bXs#imgdii=_
Isaacson, B. [Phtographer]. (2014). One Frightening Chart Shows What You Might Pay For
Internet Once Net Neutrality Is Gone[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/net-neutrality-gone_n_4611477.html
Figure 4: What the Internet might
look like
Courtesy of Huffington Post

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Jordan, S. (2009). Implications of Internet architecture on net neutrality. Implications of Internet
architecture on net neutrality. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1516540
Leiner, B., Cerf, V., Clark, D., Kahn, R., Kleinrock, L., Lynch, D., … & Wolff, S. (2013).
Internet Society. Brief History of the Internet. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from
http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-
internet
Marsden, C. T. (2010). Net neutrality towards a co-regulatory solution. New York: Bloomsbury
Academic.
NET NEUTRALITY: conclusion. (n.d.). NET NEUTRALITY: conclusion. Retrieved April 25,
2014, fromhttp://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~raylin/conclusion.html
NET NEUTRALITY: definition. (n.d.). NET NEUTRALITY: definition. Retrieved April 25,
2014, fromhttp://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~raylin/whatisnetneutrality.htm
NET NEUTRALITY: other arguments. (n.d.). NET NEUTRALITY: other arguments. Retrieved
April 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~raylin/other.html
Net Neutrality 101. (2014). Free Press. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from
http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-101
Rhodes, S. [Photographer]. (2010). Save the internet Net Neutrality protest at Google HQ -
GoogleRally 30[Photograph]. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/search?sort=relevance&text=net%20neutrality%20protests%20

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