Net Neutrality - What a Closed Internet Means - Extra Credits

The debate about net neutrality rages on, but the meaning of "open internet" vs. "closed internet" is seldom explained. Without an open or neutral internet, corporations like AT&T or Comcast can restrict bandwidth and charge people extra for faster connections or limit access to their competitors' services altogether. (---More below)

In the United States, a January 2014 ruling from the DC Circuit Court determined that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) had no authority to enforce its previous rules about net neutrality. This opened the decision about how to govern the internet's future up to law makers in the US Congress.

Whatever your opinion about net neutrality, we encourage you to petition your representatives for action!

Find your US representatives here:

Find your UK representatives here:

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♪ Intro Music: "Penguin Cap" by CarboHydroM

♪ Outro Music: "Network is Searching" by Rukunetsu

[HashSlngngSlasher]

comcast actually is actively slowing netflix speeds in a lot of areas right now. The only way netflix got them to stop was to pay them a large sum of money, and the speeds still aren't back to what they were a year ago.

The crazy conspiracies aren't conspiracies if they're real.

[shrekthehedgehogofficial]

when ur three year old vid gets popular again because history repeats itself

[DarkAion]

And here we are again, 3 years later... :(

[unspeci]

It's so saddening that this video is relevant again in 2017.

[Otatsuke]

Aaaand that's why I like these guys.
Explanations.
I had always heard the term "Net Neutrality" and dismissed it as a terminology that nobody _really_ knows the meaning of.
Since they described it, I now know *infinitely* more than I _did._ And, likewise, now I can finally gain a standpoint on the matter.
Thank you, everybody, at Extra Credits.

[Nintyuk-AT]

Aaaand...This video is relevant again. And it never should have.

[DragoniteSpam]

I think the question at this current moment is "is there a chance EA would *not* try to take advantage of this somehow."

[JonathanTash]

It's 2017 now, and this is happening again!

[Warlance]

Net neutrality is a must, there is no reason to not have and. the supreme court needs to let the FCC do its job and back off of matters they dont understand.

[Katana]

Very good analysis by Extra Credits of Net Neutrality! Some small additions: While it would look very slimy and anticompetitive for a large company to literally demand "Slow down our competing service in exchange for money",  what's much more realistic is the opposite; ISPs establish a lazy,  slow baseline of service that keeps most connection points under poor maintenance. Then, when their own service, or a paying service, demands it,  put them right on top of the dogpile and give their connection points whatever they need.

Also, this is not a threat that might happen soon. It IS happening NOW. Netflix already pays Comcast a premium to get a better peering agreement with their own ISP. Otherwise, any Netflix user on Comcast would get poor quality, and eventually just switch to XFinity. More ISPs are queuing up for similar donations! Currently, I think ISPs like Comcast realize that this debate is better fought away from the public eye; a "YouTube package" like the EC video suggests would simply mean 99% of the world population joining the debate, and everyone against NN being voted out of office overnight.

The advances towards online streaming in Netflix, downloadable games in Steam, downloadable music in iTunes, and whatever high-bandwidth business models come of the future, could NEVER have happened back when those companies were smaller and had meager budgets to pay ISPs. Please make sure you do your part to recognize the severity of the issue at hand.

[TheManWithTheFlan]

You keep mispronouncing "Comcrap" as "Comcast".

[Thenextworldwar]

2:26 I love how people act like Valve is some bastion of kindness and honesty.

In a non-net neutral world, I have no doubts that Valve would use this vacuum to monopolize digital distribution.

[serverborny]

I believe that as long as WE, the consumers, are paying for Internet access, then I should get access to all content equally.

If i got FREE Internet from a provider, go ahead, shape things. 

[JordanBeagle]

The thought of internet becoming like cable makes me nearly throw up in my mouth.

[AZ-]

Whos watching this thanksgiving November 2017

[greenbro]

I can't believe they're trying to do this again.

[MichaelTheRead]

In case you still don't get why this is such a big issue, just imagine EA Games was your internet service provider, and they named their service package "Battlefront II."

[mpdacey]

3 years later and this is still relevant.

[arcticffoxes]

This video is 3 years old, yet here we are. Fighting for the same thing as back then. It feels like it will become a tradition soon

[EmilioKolomenski]

I hate when people just use the "argument" of free market, as if it was something universally good. Companies need regulation (some people say lots of it, some others like less) to prevent them from swallowing personal freedom, which is way more important than the rest.