# Net neutrality in the United States

In the United States, net neutrality, the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate, has been an issue of contention between network users and access providers since the 1990s.

## Quotes

* Democracy depends on freedom of speech. Freedom of connection, with any application, to any party, is the fundamental social basis of the Internet, and, now, the society based on it. Let's see whether the United States is capable as acting according to its important values, or whether it is, as so many people are saying, run by the misguided short-term interested of large corporations. I hope that Congress can protect net neutrality, so I can continue to innovate in the internet space. I want to see the explosion of innovations happening out there on the Web, so diverse and so exciting, continue unabated.
** Tim Berners-Lee, in "Net Neutrality: This is Serious" (June 2006)
* The elimination of net neutrality in the United States means further concentration, centralization, and control over the entire Internet by monopolistic service providers.
** John Bellamy Foster, Capitalism Has Failed—What Next? (February 01, 2019), Monthly Review
* Net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time. Today, a blog can load as fast as the Wall Street Journal — and, if the blog is good, it can get more traffic than any media conglomerate. But if bigger companies can pay for faster, priority Internet access, that blogger no longer has a shot. And these big companies know that when they pay for access, they win. They want preferred treatment on the Internet like the preferred treatment they get in the rest of their lives.
** Al Franken, in "Sen. Franken's Speech to Free Press Group in Minneapolis" (19 August 2010)
* I've said that net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. It's true. If Republicans have their way, large corporations won't just have the loudest voices in the room. They'll be able to effectively silence everyone else. Every small business they'd prefer not to compete with. Every blogger who publishes something they don't like. We have to stop them.
** Al Franken, in "Net Neutrality Is Under Attack... Again" in The Huffington Post (8 November 2011)

## See also

* Internet censorship in the United States

## External links

* Federal Communications Commission:"OpenInternet" website
* Internet Policy: Who's Pulling the Strings against network neutrality in the United States
* A video on net neutrality
* Australian ISPs say net neutrality is an American problem
* Media Capitalism, the State and 21st Century Media Democracy Struggles – An interview with Robert McChesney
* Verizon & Google Enter Reported Deal for Tiered Internet Use, Is Net Neutrality in Jeopardy? – video report by Democracy Now!
* NNSquad The Network Neutrality Squad, an open-membership, open-source effort, enlisting the Internet's users to help keep the Internet's operations fair and unhindered from unreasonable restrictions
* Abandoning "Net Neutrality," FCC Chair Backs Two-Tiered Internet Fees – video report by Democracy Now!
* - Restoring Internet Freedom by Federal Communications Commission