Randomness And Pie

TEACHING TIME

ALRIGHT M'DUDES, I WAS DOING HOMEWORK (okay procrastinating but whatever) AND I GOT THIS EMAIL FROM WATTPAD

IT READ: "hanahaki-byo Sent the following message to all their followers: what the fuck is net neutrality"

AND ALL I COULD THINK WAS: MY TIME HAS COME!

SO WELCOME TO: TEACHING TIME WITH BETH: EPISODE 2: NET NEUTRALITY  

So if you're reading this you probably have wifi or some form of internet, right? And I'm sure many of you know that you have to pay for that wifi/internet. Net Neutrality is the idea that all internet providers (such as Comcast, Verizon etc) can't make you pay different fees to access different websites.

That means they make you pay one overall fee to access the entire internet whether it's Google or you second cousin once removed's blog that he forgot about 3 years ago.

Without Net Neutrality all these internet providers (also known as ISPs) can make you buy different "packages" for each type of website so that your internet bill is a similar mess to what is now your cable bill.

So instead of paying your ISP $80 to access every website out there it'd probably look more like this:

"Basics Pack"- $25 a month for Gmail, Google and Google Drive
"Social Pack"-  $40 a month for Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, YouTube etc
"Knowledge Pack"- $30 a month for Wikipedia, Quora, Quizlet etc
"News Pack"- $35 a month for CNN, Fox News etc
"Shop Pack"- $50 a month for Amazon, Etsy, EBay, Redbubble etc

This also means that big companies can pay ISPs to make direct traffic to their websites and that ISPs can make website providers pay for the ability to be included in their packages so smaller websites will not be able to succeed without Net Neutrality. 

However, it's not all hope is lost. They still need to vote on this. The vote is tomorrow so you've got to do this fast but there  are a few things you can do to help. The most common thing is to text "RESIST" to 50409 or if you are okay with phone calls, you can call the FCC (the Federal Communications Commission) directly at 202-418-1000. If you'd prefer to do things over the web you can visit BattleForTheNet.com or SaveTheInternet.com to call your local representative. You can also email the FCC members:
Ajit Pai- Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov
Mignon Clyburn- Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov
Michael O'Rielly- Mike.O'Rielly@fcc.gov
Brendan Carr- Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov
Jessica Rosenworcel- Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov

Now listen close, THEY ARE VOTING TOMORROW. This means that in 24-hours we will know the fate of our internet. However, this vote will not make it so providers have to do it, it's just going to allow them to this. And they probably will cause money is more important to them than people's rights. 

Overall, Net Neutrality is important, without it, many people will not be able to afford Wattpad. People will not be able to afford online relationships. Closeted LGBTQ+ people will not have this support system they've created. Small business owners will not get the publicity they need to keep their businesses afloat. Kids living in abusive households and abuse victims will not have a way to easily get the information they need to help themselves, they will lose their support system. People who use the internet as their main source of news (just about everyone) will not be able to easily get their news.

GETTING RID OF NET NEUTRAILITY IS A STEP BACKWARD AND WILL AFFECT LITERALLY EVERYONE.

This has been Teaching Time with Beth: Episode 2: Net Neutrality! *cute little theme song plays that gets slower and takes too long to load and after a while shuts off cause that's what's gonna happen if Net Neutrality is repealed*