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.
"Hardly a major brand name" doing business in Malaysia is untainted by
the use of forced labor from trafficked workers, according to 
Grace O'Malley (born 
5. Stealing Second
