Subverting network neutrality: Research nightmare or a false alarm?

Net neutrality, that is, to provide customers with the same speed and authority of network services at the same price, has always been a fair principle in the Internet era that all sectors of society hope the government and network communication operators can abide by However, the new trend of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has drawn questions about the future of network neutrality in the United States, which has aroused academic controversy Recently, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to overturn the "network neutrality" rule introduced during the Obama administration Once the new regulation is implemented, it will change the situation that the U.S network operators established in 2015 treat users equally For the first time, the network service operators are allowed to block some information or deliberately slow down the service speed, and the products are graded to provide "advanced" users with faster services and more information at a higher price Source: proponents of doovi's network neutrality (consumer alliances, public interest groups, and high-tech companies with internet businesses at their core, such as Amazon, Google, inter, etc.) It is believed that the network is a kind of public infrastructure, anyone can transmit data on the network equally, and telecom operators should not impose any discriminatory restrictions or charges on Internet data flow While the opposition camp (network operators and cable operators, such as at & T, Verizon, BellSouth, etc., as well as broadband service providers and equipment providers with close interest relationship with these operators) believes that their interests are marginalized while building network infrastructure They need to explore new business plans to pay for the cost of building the next generation broadband network They should be able to divide broadband freely, so as to provide new services such as network TV, which has different opinions on the impact of this change on the academic community Science has made great progress in recent years, breaking the shackles of many research fields This is largely due to the rapid spread of scientific data, knowledge and experience across the world through the Internet The Internet has driven the scientific revolution Some scholars think that this will be beneficial to the development of telemedicine and other technologies that need efficient network, but others worry that it will make network operators divide network speed and service level according to different information content, and thus charge different fees for different academic journals PLoS has pointed out many times this year that if Internet service providers classify traffic based on content, it will pose a threat to both the sender of research reports and the receiver of academic journals Today's global network interconnection has also caused researchers to worry about the unequal speed of network services between "advanced" users in the United States and their colleagues in other countries These changes may affect Internet "traffic" in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada Data from South America, Central America and the Caribbean may always be in a slow channel, because Internet service providers give priority to social media messages advertising in developed regions However, college students, especially those in poorer countries, may face high access and download costs In addition, public opinion is concerned that the abolition of "network neutrality" may hinder innovation Network speed is the key of many information technology companies If telecommunication companies discriminate against traffic, small and medium-sized companies and start-ups will not be able to compete with large enterprises.