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net neutrality protest

Open Internet is at risk.

Nothing but Net Neutrality! Net Neutrality – a/k/a Open Internet – has quickly Socially Sparked™ our lives. It’s where consumers have equal and unrestricted access to the Internet and its services. The idea that our short-lived free Internet access could quickly be taken away looms large right now.

net neutralityIt’s a given that most of us around the world today cannot live without our Internet. Whether it be via our mobile phones, tablets, televisions, watches, etc. — we are a connected society – who chooses which service and content providers we want; and how, when and what we want to see at our leisure. This is the simplistic description. However, it’s a bit more complex than this. Socially Sparked News
weighed in with digital TV/technology veteran Marc Tayer for his in-depth commentary on the net neutrality issue. Readers can view his viewpoint at Socially Sparked News, Net Neutrality: Staying the Course.

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“The dramatic rise of Internet video occupies an increasingly dominant share of our aggregate bandwidth, which has fueled a raging debate over the rules of the broadband road.”– Marc Tayer, digital TV veteran & author of Televisionaries

The FCC wants to reverse the current 2015 Open Internet Order (Title II of Communications Act), which allows for ‘Open Internet’. “No blocking” and “no throttling” of legal content and “no paid prioritization.” Meaning control over what we see and do online. In other words – Censorship.

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On July 12th, an Internet-wide Protest was held. Hundreds of websites, Internet users, and online communities banded together to alert everyone worldwide of the FCC’s attack on net neutrality. As has been done in the past, this was accomplished by an intentional slowdown of the Internet. The objective: to demonstrate how — when the Internet comes together — they can stop censorship and corruption.

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net neutrality protestSites from across the web prominently displayed an alert on their homepage showing the world what the web will look like without net neutrality. The hope was to encourage users to send a letter to the FCC and Congress in support of net neutrality.

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Here are a few examples of how some prominent platforms took action to get the word out:

Medium – Prounounced alert and blog about why net neutrality matters.

OkCupid – In-app message to all users asking them to speak out through battleforthenet.com.

Vimeo – Net neutrality explainer video and graphics optimized for every social media channel.

Plays.TV – A site-wide alert GIF asking gamers to contact the FCC and Congress through battleforthenet.com

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Net, net — Save Net Neutrality. In other words, protect freedom of speech,
innovation and Internet choice. Our internet world is in the users hands. —
Abbe is #SociallySparked ! Tweet @sosparkednews & @asparks01