Porn Fights For Your Right to Surf

by Aurora Snow

Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube Lead Charge For Net Neutrality

With a threat to net neutrality looming—that all online data is treated equally—a handful of popular XXX sites are leading the charge to campaign for an open Internet.

Because we all know the Internet was really made for porn, an elite trio of streaming adult sites—Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube—have joined forces with the likes of Netflix and Reddit to protest new threats to net neutrality.
September 10^th became “Internet Slowdown Day”: A cautionary event wherein consumers of online porn were confronted with spinning wheels of death (but without the slow loading time), serving as a reminder of what's to come if net neutrality, the concept of an “open Internet” that sees Internet service providers and governments treat all online data equally, fails. The idea, according to BattlefortheNet.com, was to “cover the web with symbolic ‘loading’ icons, to remind everyone what an Internet without net neutrality would look like.”
Net neutrality has leveled the playing field, making it possible for mom-and-pop sites to compete with large corporations. So why is the FCC trying to fix what isn’t broken? Four years ago, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that companies like Comcast and Verizon had to treat all sites equally, effectively banning additional tolls for companies that devoured more bandwidth. But that didn't sit well with Verizon, and thanks to their subsequent lawsuit earlier this year, the Court struck down the FCC's rules for net neutrality. According to the courts, the Internet is not considered a utility and therefore not subject to such regulations.

No one wants to wait for porn to load. You’re almost there and then—buffering. Moment ruined.

Should the Internet be considered a utility? America practically lives through its devices—our smartphones, iPads, laptops, and tablets feel as crucial as indoor plumbing or electricity. It's revolutionized the way we live our lives. We can hang out with our friends from the comfort of our laptop. Enjoy porn without having to skulk past the judging eyes of a cashier. We feel vulnerable when we've been cut off. The Internet is, at present, an extension of ourselves.
According to a broadband connection study published by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, Americans are already paying higher prices for lackluster Internet service when compared to international ISPs. We’re getting the short end of the stick here already. The absence of an open Internet could make this even worse, forcing us to revert back to the dial-up days—you know, when geeks would have to wait minutes to see a picture of a naked woman gradually reveal itself onscreen. The horror, the horror.
A two-tier system has been proposed, essentially creating a fast lane and a slow lane. Internet service providers will have the opportunity to offer paid prioritization. It's like slipping the maître d’ a hundred for the corner table with a view. Not everyone can afford to do this, and certainly only a few can do it consistently. Adult entertainment sites simply can't afford to be left out. No one wants to wait for porn to load. You’re almost there and then—buffering. Moment ruined. This means that porn sites will have to find a way to be in the fast lane, whatever the cost. Changes like this pose a huge threat to the adult entertainment industry—an industry that eats up a ton of bandwidth.
In the absence of net neutrality there is also the possibility that an ISP could redirect users to their preferred affiliates, or prevent them from seeing certain websites, like porn. “It provides an opportunity for service providers at the highest level to effectively segment buckets of traffic and charge accordingly,” says Scott Rabinowitz, Partner and Media Buyer at CyberStampede.com. “Or alter policies on whether or not they are willing to accept such high bandwidth, as crazy as that might seem.” Though Rabinowitz muses that something like this would not only be impractical but also incite severe backlash.
Unregulated consumption is the prevailing attitude when it comes to the Internet. Since bandwidth has become reasonable, paying extra for it feels like a backwards move. Adult companies, fun as they seem, are at their core businesses. “If cost became prohibitively high again like it was in the 1990s, it would affect content quality, or companies would pass along the added expense,” says Rabinowitz. “And that may not be a realistic or desirable thing to charge more for, effectively, the same thing." At a certain point, fans will put their wallets away.
“Imagine if a core utility service that the average household relies on, whether it be telephone, electricity, gas, water, or sewage could be throttled in this type of fashion,” says Rabinowitz. “Imagine if your plumbing could be slowed down to a grinding halt because the service provider upstream decided that certain people should pay more than others.” No one wants to be in the slow lane, but some companies won't have a choice. They'll be stuck with the plumbing they can afford.
Some companies fear “throttling”—a deliberate slowing—which may become more frequently used by the ISPs. Just look at the recent battle between Netflix and telecommunications giant Comcast. Netflix speeds were crawling along making it miserable for customers to stream content. But once negotiations with Comcast ended and Netflix paid up, streaming conditions went back to “normal.” Lest they be seen as the bad guys here, Comcast published the following statement on their corporate blog: “It was not Comcast that was creating viewability issues for Netflix customers, it was Netflix’s commercial transit decisions that created these issues.”
Netflix cleared the air on their own official blog, in case consumers were confused. “In sum, Comcast is not charging Netflix for transit service. It is charging Netflix for access to its subscribers. Comcast also charges its subscribers for access to Internet content providers like Netflix. In this way, Comcast is double dipping by getting both its subscribers and Internet content providers to pay for access to each other.”
Whether or not staged Internet slowdowns will be enough to make a difference in the end, no one can say. The battle between David and Goliath is bound to wage on, only Goliath in this story is Comcast, and David is your friendly neighborhood porn streaming site.