14 DAY TRIAL // IT professionals are extremely worried about the impact a change in net neutrality regulations would bring to the industry.
According to a study made by Spiceworks, a professional network for the IT industry, there is widespread support for net neutrality among specialists, with 82% of those interviewed expressing their views in favor of retaining the current net neutrality regulations. Over half of the professionals interviewed further believe these regulations are key to the success of their business.
In the current context of President Donald Trump naming Ajit Pai as head of the Federal Communications Commission, a man that’s been known to oppose the exact net neutrality rules mentioned above, the situation seems dire, and there’s a tension among supporters as they wait for the FCC’s next move.
What could possibly go wrong?
What could there be to fear about the disappearance of net neutrality rules? Well, 86% of those interviewed by Spiceworks fear that Internet providers could slow down or throttle Internet speeds for certain types of content, as has been the case for Netflix in the past. Then, 84% are concerned that ISPs could go a step further and simply block access to lawful Internet content, depending on where their interest lies.
“Some internet providers have partnerships with specific content providers or services, for example, Comcast and NBC Universal, T-Mobile and Netflix, and Google Fiber and its entire suite of online services. IT pros worry that if net neutrality will be deregulated, these partnerships could lead to bias where ISPs play favorites with partners while blocking or throttling access to competitors,” Spiceworks IT analyst Peter Tsai told Softpedia.
“Additionally, some fear their company might be affected if an ISP is allowed to arbitrarily deprioritize traffic bound to their business website, which could affect organizations’ bottom line. With deregulation, some ISPs might even be able to block traffic to a website altogether, which could lead to higher levels of censorship or the limiting of free speech,” he added.
A threat to free speech
This leads to a third concern shared by 83% of IT professionals who believe that without net neutrality governments or corporations could take action to limit free speech or to freely collect and share personal Internet browsing data without permission, as 82% of the people interviewed fear.
If net neutrality is repealed, most IT professionals, nearly 60% to be more precise, expect for Internet costs to increase, with 47% believing their access to important Internet services will be degraded, while Internet connection speeds will become slower.
The survey involved 411 IT professionals from the United States, although Spiceworks chose to keep the names of the companies they work for anonymous.