Citizens of Vizzed, lend me your ears!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably seen things across the internet about the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and their plans to effectively end Net Neutrality.

"But Elara, why should I care?"

Net Neutrality prevents your ISP from limiting access to certain sites, like Vizzed, because they do not or cannot pay the ISP to have "premium access"... it creates a level playing field on the internet that means all sites can be accessed equally in terms of bandwidth. Comedian John Oliver does a wonderful job explaining all this, but since he drops the F-bomb a few times I cannot actually link to his segment. The example he uses, however, is access to Netflix... basically, what the FCC is considering is making it legal for cable companies like Comcast or Verizon to create two forms of the internet... slow internet and fast internet. If companies want the public to have better access to their sites with less trouble loading pages (or shows, in case of Netflix), they would have to pay the cable company a higher amount. More powerful companies should be able to afford this, but it is going to hurt small sites and start up companies and make it harder for them to gain a foothold.

Keep in mind that Netflix and Amazon were once small companies and Net Neutrality is what allowed them to become the powerhouses that they are now. So was Steam.

Yeah, that got your attention didn't it?

All around, ending Net Neutrality is a bad idea, yet despite nationwide outcries against it, the FCC is moving to do just that because the cable companies have basically given them giant sacks of money.

But we still have a voice.

Until midnight on July 14, 2014, the FCC is accepting open comments on this issue. They will be accepting replies on these comments until September.

Do you want to add your voice to the outcry against this stupidity? Good.

This gizmodo article provides a step-by-step guide on just how you can fill out a comment form.

Note that it would appear that you DO have to live in the United States in order to do this (you can try otherwise, but I don't think it will work).

But yes, go. Comment and Reply and make it clear that the FCC needs to keep their grubby paws off of OUR internet.

I sincerely hope that the FCC does not disregard everyone's opinions. It is obvious that we do not want to ruin the Internet, but I guess money speaks better than people's words. Hopefully this whole voicing complaints actually gets the message through their thick heads.