Think about how much time you spend on the internet. A couple of minutes? Hours?

Imagine a world where your internet service provider can purposely make certain websites load slowly for you just because that website didn’t pay a fee to be included in a special “fast-lane”.

Note – this supposed fast-lane isn’t any faster than your current internet, it’s the normal speed, but any website that doesn’t pay up to the ISP is kicked down to insufferable speeds.

The only thing preventing this is net neutrality.

Net neutrality is a rule upheld by the Federal Communications Commision that states that all data, regardless of its origin, must be treated equally by ISPs.

In other words; Facebook loads for you at the same speed that some dinky homemade website selling alpaca hair does.

However, net neutrality is being threatened.

Comcast, the largest ISP in the United States, slowed down popular movie and show streaming site  Netflix after Netflix refused to pay a fee to Comcast.

Comcast denied the claims that they slowed Netflix’s speeds for their customers, but data has shown a considerable drop in the data transfer speeds between Comcast customers and the Netflix servers during the period of the dispute, and a steep increase in speeds after Netflix gave in and paid.

This blatantly shows Comcast’s interest in twisting money from websites in exchange for bearable data transfer speeds.

It’s not just Comcast that wants to line its pockets at the expense of websites and to the frustration of users. Comcast, and other major ISPs, including our own Cox Communications, have expressed an interest in ending net neutrality as a way to gather money to invest in bumping up speeds for all users.

That is all a poorly thought-up excuse to twist even more money out of a nearly monopolized market.

These multi-billion dollar companies are spending millions in lobbying to Congress and the FCC to end net neutrality – money that they could be using to improve speeds for users like they claim they wish to do. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, major ISPs, including AT&T, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner, have spent more than $30 million this year combined in lobbying Congress.

This needs to stop.

We need to put an end to these companies’ attempt to take away our freedom to a neutral internet.