In this article you will find out:

What net neutrality is

What are the main consequences of the net neutrality repeal

How will the net neutrality repeal affect you

How IPSX could help resolve some of the problems imposed by the net neutrality repeal

Net neutrality was coined by professor Tim Wu, in 2003, as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier, which was used to describe the role of telephone systems. It then became, and was until recently, an established Internet guideline principle.

Nowadays the internet is a powerful and essential tool that almost everyone uses on a daily basis. It is absolutely important that the Internet, as defined and protected by net neutrality, remains an open space that is widely accessible without censorship or favoritism.

What does net neutrality actually mean?

Since the repeal of Net Neutrality in the United states, interest in the topic has reached a new peak. Being such an important part of an open internet, Net Neutrality allows all users access, power of choice and transparency over the services, applications and content available to them on the Internet.

Simply put, net neutrality is an Internet guideline principle. It forces Internet Service Providers to treat and allow equal access to all data on the web. This also means that they do not have the right to charge users differently according to the content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication.

Furthermore, under the rules of net neutrality, ISPs are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.

Net neutrality’s principles define and protect the open internet. And most of all, net neutrality creates an environment in which everyone using the internet, from individuals, to companies and organizations, can easily communicate and conduct their business without interference from third parties, such as broadband providers. The fact that all legal traffic should be out in the open and always treated equally stands at the core of innovation and economic growth.

The main concerns around net neutrality repeal

There are many examples of net neutrality violations. The most popular and overly discussed is Comcast’s bandwidth throttling.

Bandwidth throttling, the slowing of connection speed, results in bad quality service, easily lost connections and extended buffering time.

ISPs may call on this practice to slow down an entire network in order to prevent overloads.

Also, they might do it in order to compel users to upgrade to more expensive services.

Comcast used forged packets, secretly slowing the speed from peer-to-peer file sharing, thus limiting the traffic of BitTorrent protocols users. What’s worse is that they stopped only when the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable, intervened.

In another instance of net neutrality in the USA, the same company (Comcast) had to agree not to favor content from NBC over other video providers, such as Youtube, when the company acquired NBC Universal more than 10 years ago. Net neutrality is meant to discourage ISPs from treating competing online sites unequally.

Net neutrality rules were introduced in 2015, in order to prevent internet providers from interfering between customers and the information they want to access.

As you probably found out, in December 2017 the same FCC voted to repeal net neutrality and the decision was met with widespread disapproval, seen as a loss for consumers and a huge advantage for ISPs.

Without net neutrality to protect and nurture equality of access to information, the way ISP’s provide their services moving forward will most definitely be different.

Main problems imposed by net neutrality repeal

ISPs argue that the internet infrastructure can’t, in its current state, sustain the enormous amount of traffic that can be generated in a global society. Therefore, in order to prevent an overload, ISPs need more control over this infrastructure. The problem is they have limited control in an open internet ruled by net neutrality. However, its repeal does result in even more problems.

All internet service providers will now have the freedom to:

Impose different charges to certain content, making it more expensive, hence less accessible;

Speed up, slow down or block traffic to certain websites by choice;

Encourage paid prioritization, by promoting only certain websites in exchange for unfair benefits;

Modify the services costs as they please, which most certainly won’t become cheaper, but more expensive;

Basically, the internet could become regulated by ISPs.

The main threats to net neutrality are

Traffic shaping: very similar to bandwidth throttling, it addresses a certain type of data, not an individual or a business. Data caps sets the limit to the amount of data you are allowed to transfer in a certain timeframe; chances are, if you want to pass the limit, you will have to pay extra. Bandwidth throttling or the slowing of connection speed can cause serious damage to businesses and individuals. IP discrimination: ISPs could slow down or restrict data for only certain IP Addresses, especially those which consume too much resources.

How does the end of net neutrality impact businesses and consumers

Net neutrality repeal could turn out to be a huge issue for both businesses and users.

As a business you could face unfair competition and as a user you won’t be able to always access the content you want, when you want. In other words, you won’t be in control anymore.

It’s common knowledge that most, if not all businesses, generate revenue from Internet traffic. Therefore, as little as a slowed loading speed could result in revenue loss.

According to Kissmetrics, nearly 50% of all Internet users expect a page to load in 2 seconds. More than this, and the bounce rate will skyrocket. It’s no wonder that even the mere thought that the ISPs could have the power to cause such delays is a true source of concern for all business owners.

For a better understanding of what a world without net neutrality can come to, here is a video made by Burger King. It explains what would it mean if potential effects of the net neutrality’s repeal were mimicked.

In the video, consumers who chose to pay the minimum amount had their Whopper burgers made at a slower pace than those meant for the consumers which paid more. So, if they wanted to receive the burgers faster, they had to pay much more. Simply put, is much like what would happen without the net neutrality.

Not only this, but the lack of the open internet principle would really slow down innovation. Quality internet services will become more expensive, thus less accessible for small organizations or startups, which currently are an important part of contributing to innovation in all fields. Big companies like Google or Netflix will be able to pay more to keep their business in the game by quick delivered content with no interruption, although it might slightly limit their profit; smaller organizations, on the other hand, won’t stand a chance.

As far as consumers are concerned, first of all chances are that they will have to pay extra in order to stream video from, let’s say, Netflix. If you have a Verizon subscription, you may be charged more to access other sites besides Yahoo, which is conveniently owned by Verizon.

Also, in a way or another, the internet being an open forum ensures and encourages freedom of speech, which should not rely on one’s financial or social status.

Most importantly, as a consumer you won’t be able to access the information you want, when you want to. This represents a danger to the free flow and access to information which has brought society extraordinary progress.

What is the problem that IPSX will resolve.

As net neutrality repeal is a US based issue for the moment, a smart shift of GeoLocation using an IP Address from another country could be the ideal solution to overcome the new imposed internet control. But doing it on your own, looking for sources from which to access (buy/rent) IP Addresses from other countries might be extremely risky and definitely not safe.

By choosing the option of renting IP Addresses using IPSX as a user you will be able to enjoy internet as you did before.

That’s exactly what you will be able to do while using IPSX. Due to its privacy and high level security, IPSX allows VPNs and Data Centers exchange IPs, and offer their users a more wide variety of IPs and use them for a certain period of time, by choice, from 5 seconds to a whole month. Thus solving the IP accessibility issue for both businesses and individuals.

If you live in the USA and observe that your ISPs is cutting or slowing down access to certain websites or rises their costs for some others, by renting an IP Address from countries outside the USA in which net neutrality still stands, you will be able the enjoy the internet with no restrictions or discrimination.

As an end user you will be able to install an application on your device and share your device’s IP in a couple of seconds on the IP Sharing Exchange platform and win real-time IPSX tokens.

Also, as a data center you will be able to share a full range of unused IPs on the IPSX platform.

IPSX is creating a framework and an IP addresses marketplace.

Hence, this solution could help overcome the net neutrality repeal and the issues that will follow along with it, and will also provide some important benefits, like: easy access, security, accountability and cost efficiency.

VPN providers are certainly a viable solution to overcome net neutrality. But they most likely be overwhelmed by the high demand of IP Addresses, as it already exists a huge need of remote IP address usage. Imagine how things will look soon, as almost everyone in the US, businesses or individuals, could need remote IP Addresses.

The problem here is VPN providers encounter difficulties when it comes to meeting the already existing demand for IPs and bandwidth for a specific period of time like “watching a football game” when there are thousands of users that need the service in that exact hour, so things will only get worse.

Fortunately, IPSX may be the ideal solution. As a VPN provider, IPSX platform offers you the possibility to integrate your system with IPSX’s SDK to let your clients choose, in real time, from millions of IP addresses from all around the world. This pretty much fixes the lack of IP availability that both users and VPN providers encounter.

Get fast access to IP Addresses and let your clients choose from billions of IP addresses from all over the world.

IPSX makes it possible for all VPN providers to access large volumes of IP Addresses in a matter of seconds, even for short periods of time and they will pay only for that specific usage time.

Some of the main benefits are easy access and cost efficiency, as IP Addresses can be rented for only as long as needed.

IPSX will solve the main problems VPN providers encounter

Finding the IP address providers

Establishing the contractual agreement between the IP addresses providers and the client (VPN service in this case)

Settle the payment acting as an escrow account to guarantee that the IP addresses will be available during whole period of 2 hours

Offer the client the possibility to provide feedback for the IP address provider

Fortunately, we are almost part of the next internet phase Era. Being a blockchain based system and utility token with incentivized mechanism of sharing IPs among actors from all over the world and a framework to build applications that require IPs built in a reliable and open source environment, IPSX will most certainly stand at the core of the next layer of the web.

For more information and media contact, please use:

IPSX website: https://ip.sx

IPSX Whitepaper: https://ip.sx/dist/Whitepaper-IPSX-05.pdf

Telegram Channel: https://t.me/IPExchange

Contact email: contact@ip.sx

Company info: Geralka Project AG, Bahnhofstrasse 4, 6052, Hergiswil NW, Switzerland. Registration number CHE-103.114.066