Net neutrality means that the government will, one day, control the internet.

Wait a second, I can hear you saying, that sounds bad.

But almost everyone you know says that net neutrality is good.

Does it neutral mean that no one is picking winners and losers?

That everyone is equal?

Maybe according to the dictionary, but not according to the people behind the net neutrality movement.

For them, neutral means the government regulates the internet like a public utility.

And that means bureaucrats making key decisions about how the internet is run.

And that's exactly what happened in 2015.

The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, under the Obama administration,

came up with net neutrality rules and regulations and imposed them on consumers.

No open hearings, they just did it.

Here's what they said.

Internet service providers, or ISPs, AT&T, Verizon, and other companies that lay the cable that goes to your house,

are basically monopolies, like your typical utility company.

To prevent abuse of this position, net neutrality rules prohibited them from charging websites different prices,

no matter how much or how little bandwidth they use.

But this is exactly the opposite of what utilities are allowed to do.

Electricity providers, for instance, are allowed to create pricing tiers.

The more you use, the higher the price goes.

If you use significantly more power than your neighbor, you pay more for the privilege.

Net neutrality forces ISPs to charge all users the same price no matter how much data they send through the internet.

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