What you need to know about net neutrality

Verizon Wireless store
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Verizon's in a lawsuit Jan. 14, 2014, which overturned the Federal Communications Commission's regulations regarding net neutrality.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For the second time in four years, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals court has struck down the FCC's attempt to make net neutrality the law of the land.

The issue might have a boring name, but net neutrality has enormous implications. It's the reason the New York Times and the Brainerd Dispatch's respective websites operate at the same speed. It also prevents an internet service provider like Comcast or Time Warner Cable from blocking websites from companies it sees as competition.

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Supporters of the rules argue they are critical for maintaining a free Internet. They argue that the Internet should be an open platform where all websites receive equal treatment, whether they are large corporate services or small start-ups.

But Republicans and other critics argue the rules unnecessarily restrict the business decisions of Internet providers...

The judges concluded that the FCC was inappropriately treating broadband Internet as a "common carrier" service. Traditional phone lines, railroads, airlines and other services are considered common carriers and must offer service to everyone.

On The Daily Circuit, we look at what's coming next in the legal internet battle.

LEARN MORE ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY:

Closing Time for the Open Internet

Without net-neutrality rules, a firm like Verizon or Comcast can do whatever it likes to content moving across its network. If it wants, it can make a blog that criticized its latest policies unreachable, or block T-Mobile's customer support. Acting together, the Internet service providers could destroy Netflix by slowing its data to a crawl, making movies impossible to watch. (New Yorker)

Why You Should Be Freaking Out About The End Of Net Neutrality

Put together items one and two and it becomes clear -- negating net neutrality is bad for small businesses. If ISPs force website owners pay for faster load times, tiny retailers and personal websites will be the ones to suffer from slower content delivery. (Huffington Post)