September 10th 2014 is Internet Slowdown Day, an event put together by the advocacy group Battle for the Net and a group of 68 internet companies and organizations to show what the internet would be like if the FCC “Net Neutrality” regulations or implemented (or other laws are passed) and the Internet is broken up into a fast and a slow lane.
The goal of Internet Slowdown Day is to raise awareness about the importance of net neutrality, and to create support in opposition to the proposed FCC net neutrality regulation and other legislation that would give Internet providers the right to charge more for an “Internet fast lane”.
FCC Net Neutrality regulations
The Internet Slowdown protest was precipitated by new Federal Communication Commission (FCC) regulations that would effectively gut the current concept of net neutrality.
If the new rules are voted in and implemented, many Internet firms such as Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG), YouTube, Netflix and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) would probably have to negotiate with service providers for a higher speed internet connection to continue to deliver streaming video and other internet services at the same speed they do now.
Organizations participating in Internet Slowdown Day
Practically all of the major U.S. streaming, content or image sites are taking part, including Netflix and Vimeo, as are image site Imgur, Tumblr, news sites like Digg and Reddit, as well as Firefox browser developer Mozilla and WordPress. Social media titan Twitter and the hot crowdfunding website Kickstarter are also participating in Internet Slowdown Day.
Petition to U.S. Congress
Besides trying to illustrate what the Internet could be become if Net Neutrality is gutted, the protest also hopes to get Internet users to sign a petition to the U.S. Congress asking that they intervene to stop the proposed rules from the FCC. When users click on the spinning Loading image, they are automatically directed to the petition.
