An app to protect net neutrality

The internet has historically been a realm of equity where users can post or create freely and our entrance into the digital age has expanded upon those rights to a new degree.

However in May of 2014, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a plan to strip the internet of the equal opportunities it presents by allowing broadband service providers to discriminate online and enact paid prioritization of sites. Thanks to a grassroots campaign against this plan, users of the internet rallied to protect net neutrality and in February of the following year, Wheeler dissolved his original plan and restored the open web.

Today, while internet users are wholly grateful of the overturned proposal, we still must actively work to protect ourselves against breaches in net neutrality. Engineers at ASSIA have developed a user friendly solution to the issue. The Cloudcheck app allows users to run speed tests on content streaming websites such as YouTube and Netflix in order to determine whether or not users are getting fair and unabridged access to these sites. The Speedtest feature of the Cloudcheck app can run a content check on any site to determine the speed at which data downloads through your ISP from that site. If a website such as Netflix is downloading at a rate of 9 Mbps versus YouTube, downloading at a rate of 6 Mbps, one can suspect an unfair advantage. It is up to the consumers to fight back against these major corporations and secure an open and unbiased internet.

Silicon Valley is a mecca for startups where the open internet is crucial to lift these small businesses off the ground. Net neutrality is a critical tool that allows startups and small businesses to create a market, advertise and distribute their products at large. This is fact: Net neutrality fosters growth and innovation and it’s up to the consumer to protect this freedom.