In a world increasingly dependent on connectivity, there are those who wish to take advantage of, and profit off of, yet another utility that many people around the world need for day-to-day life: the internet. Last December the FCC took the subject of Net Neutrality-a vast set of rules regulating the internet and prohibiting service providers from throttling or treating websites unfairly-to a vote, repealing the 2015 decision by the Obama administration to strengthen federal oversight, despite millions of Americans writing to the FCC and asking them to halt the repeal. The motion came from the desk of Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, and a former executive of Verizon Communications, one of the largest ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) in America. The announcement immediately pitted Internet giants such as Google and Amazon against ISP’s like Comcast, Verizon, and Time Warner, and sent lawmakers into action to try and halt the FCC’s actions.

“Everyone knew (the repeal) would happen, it’s just so insane how undemocratic the whole thing was,” said Sophomore Justin Revelle. “Even though everyone on both sides of the political spectrum was against the repeal of Net Neutrality and everyone was extremely vocal about it, the chairman of the FCC was basically just like ‘yeah we’re going to do this anyway.’”

But what does the repeal of Net Neutrality mean for the average person? On the surface, the repeal means that ISP’s will be able to offer different services to their customers, and would have more options in media packages that their customers can buy. But past this, the repeal of Net Neutrality means that ISP’s can throttle traffic and speeds to websites and to home internet networks that don’t pay for ‘internet fast lanes,’ and can even block access to websites completely unless the consumer pays extra, just like with a TV cable package. And even before the repeal, streaming services like Netflix had to pay service providers for faster access to the internet to keep consumers engaged and happy, and to avoid sluggish speeds.

“I think where people come down on Net Neutrality is what is the appropriate way to enforce fair and open access to content on the internet,” said David Hinson, the head of Drury’s Tech Services department. “Where people fall on this particular issue are those that say, ‘yes we should continue to revert back to the Communications Act of 1934 to the application of this.’ I think on the other side of this are those that would say ‘no what we really need is new legislation that is more accurately reflective of what is really happening with carriers. It’s not a simple are you for Net Neutrality or are you against Net Neutrality, it’s really what’s the best way we can get people on board.”

Hinson continued, saying, “Part of the argument is that the market should decide, but the problem is that for many small communities you’re basically dealing with monopolies in regard to who provides your internet access, so it’s not a matter of you saying ‘I don’t like the tariffs being charged for me to watch Netflix or Hulu.’ You may only have one provider in town. Effectively in the absence of choice you really do need to have some sort of enforcement to guarantee fair and equal access to content and data.”

“We don’t really know what’s going to happen,” Hinson admitted. “Technology fees (for the university) themselves might rise, but I don’t really anticipate that happening, because I don’t think it’s in the interest of ISP’s to cut off their nose until more definitive ruling with regard to that goes. If they make a wrong move now and parties change at the midterms, then they’re out on a limb and have alienated a large part of their customer base. Will there ever be cases where we uncover such and such ISP has throttled video content? It’s always possible that will be the case, but it’s going to be a long time until rates are adjusting that way, and I think we just have to kind of wait and see what the settled law on this thing is going to do.”

So what does the repeal of Net Neutrality mean for Drury students? With all of the factors and uncertainties that come into play regarding this issue, no one seems to be sure. The true details of the situation will surely unfold as time goes on. Until then, we encourage you to cherish the free web as long as it remains and do adequate research to make your own decisions about this complicated issue.