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cm_2592
Community Member

Is losing Net Neutrality going to affect Upwork or online freelancing in general?

Is losing Net Neutrality going to affect Upwork or online freelancing in general?

29 REPLIES 29
allergywriter
Community Member

Nope


@Cheryl K wrote:

Nope


 How would you know?

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Rene:

I am not part of the hysterical bunch.

In the US, the net worked fine before NN, it will work fine afterwards. It was an attempt at regulation by the govt.

Govt in the US is rarely the answer to a problem, usually just more of a problem.


@Cheryl K wrote:

Rene:

I am not part of the hysterical bunch.

In the US, the net worked fine before NN, it will work fine afterwards. It was an attempt at regulation by the govt.

Govt in the US is rarely the answer to a problem, usually just more of a problem.


Not all regulations are bad. NN has nothing to do with hysteria. Net neutrality puts small businesses and big corps at an equal level. If tomorrow big telcos decide to charge big dollar for data transmission, small businesses will be at disadvantage.

 

The Internet has become more than a commodity nowadays, it's a base for many aspects of the society. I have absolutely zero trust in telcos and in big corporations. Too much government is definitely more a problem than a solution, but replacing the government by corporations is not the wisest thing to do.

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

net neutrality did no such thing. Market forces will make sure ISP's dont slow dow. No ISP ever wants the reputation of being slow. Slow speeds lose customers. If some company wants to pay extra for extra speed, its no different than the flex tolls we had on roads when I lived in South Florida.

It has everything to do with hysteria. People here were being led to think the internet would die the dsay of the vote.

You can trust your country to regulate business into oblivion. Here regulation can crush small business. I know, I've built, grown and sold a number of businesses here and I never found one regulation that made things better.


@Cheryl K wrote:

net neutrality did no such thing. Market forces will make sure ISP's dont slow dow. No ISP ever wants the reputation of being slow. Slow speeds lose customers. If some company wants to pay extra for extra speed, its no different than the flex tolls we had on roads when I lived in South Florida.

It has everything to do with hysteria. People here were being led to think the internet would die the dsay of the vote.

You can trust your country to regulate business into oblivion. Here regulation can crush small business. I know, I've built, grown and sold a number of businesses here and I never found one regulation that made things better.


I think you are oversimplifying it. Without net neutrality, ISPs will be able to enhance or throttle access to certain sites, apps and content, as they see fit. AT&T won't slow down, it'll get faster and faster, as long as you are using the connection to access what AT&T wants to promote. Most likely, the ISPs will develop pricing models similar to cable TV, where the only way to get all of the two dozen things you  really want/need is to subscribe to a very expensive tier that contains 500 things you don't care about but are forced to subsidize. At the same time, basic access will become more expensive. It's already out of reach for millions of those who need it most, for access to education and work, not to mention remote health care.

 

This analysis says everything I would like to say to people who think this is no big deal. It's not hysteria. No one thinks the internet is going to *poof* away and checking your email will suddenly cost $100 per minute. The regulation argument is specious. 

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/13/16771876/net-neutrality-michael-powell-isp-fcc

A thousand kudos.

jcullinan
Community Member


@Christian M wrote:

Is losing Net Neutrality going to affect Upwork or online freelancing in general?


If these new FCC policies go into effect, which is a big IF, ISPs could choose to throttle traffic to and from Upwork servers. They could also choose to throttle traffic to any websites that decline to pay extra for premium treatment. So, YES, there could be grave implications for online freelancing, but there's no way to predict how it will all fall out.

Taking Jesse's comments to the next level: it has already been confirmed that small businesses (i.e.,  this includes every freelancer) and individuals are the ones who will be most impacted. As she noted, it is still an "If".

sivavranagaro
Community Member

I expect higher fees.

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Don't correct my grammar!

Please explain why, Vesna.


@Wendy C wrote:

Please explain why, Vesna.


Because if they need to pay to have their traffic prioritised, they'd want to redistribute the cost. We're where they redistribute so. 

gilbert-phyllis
Community Member

Yes.

And silly me thought Vesna was referring to higher fees charged by FLers ....


@Wendy C wrote:

And silly me thought Vesna was referring to higher fees charged by FLers ....


 We will have to redistribute cost, too.

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Don't correct my grammar!


@Vesna M wrote:

@Wendy C wrote:

And silly me thought Vesna was referring to higher fees charged by FLers ....


 We will have to redistribute cost, too.

One more factor making it even more difficult for any person or organization that is trying to get started.

hey look! the sky is falling.

Not


@Phyllis G wrote:

Yes.


 How would you know?

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"Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless

Let's move Upwork to the darknet

" The bond with a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth will ever be "

Jutta B.

Not on topic, but I do love your quote about the bonds with a dog.  Not sure why it says "true" dog?  Still, love!


@Diane R wrote:

Jutta B.

Not on topic, but I do love your quote about the bonds with a dog.  Not sure why it says "true" dog?  Still, love!


I guess a true dog is the opposite of a fake dog. Makes sense???? In a world of fake news, it must.


@Rene K wrote:

@Phyllis G wrote:

Yes.


 How would you know?


 Because it will be legal for an ISP to speed up, slow down, or completely block specific websites, content or applications. So our ability to move around the web and get things done may depend on which ISP we have. In many areas--where I live, for example--there is only one provider and I will be at their mercy (even more than I already am, re. price and service quality). Even where there is more than one ISP available, it will likely become complicated. Imagine what would happen if your ISP has a vested interest in one of UW's competitors but switching ISPs would hinder your access to come other site or content that is integral to your work. Since my ability to earn a living depends on having a fast, reliable Internet connection and the wits and wherewithal to use it effectively, I am not optimistic. I expect it will become necessary to spend a lot more money in order to maintain the connectivity that I need.


@Phyllis G wrote:

@Rene K wrote:

@Phyllis G wrote:

Yes.


 How would you know?


 Because it will be legal for an ISP to speed up, slow down, or completely block specific websites, content or applications. So our ability to move around the web and get things done may depend on which ISP we have. In many areas--where I live, for example--there is only one provider and I will be at their mercy (even more than I already am, re. price and service quality). Even where there is more than one ISP available, it will likely become complicated. Imagine what would happen if your ISP has a vested interest in one of UW's competitors but switching ISPs would hinder your access to come other site or content that is integral to your work. Since my ability to earn a living depends on having a fast, reliable Internet connection and the wits and wherewithal to use it effectively, I am not optimistic. I expect it will become necessary to spend a lot more money in order to maintain the connectivity that I need.


The Internet does not exists in isolation.  In the U.S. we actually do have quite extensive anti-trust and consumer protection laws.  If any ISP behave in an outright anti-competitive way, they will be hit by those existing laws, going back to before the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Blocking or "slowing down" of legitimate traffic by specific origin or destination is unlikely to ever happen.  What can happen is if a vendor chooses to pay for premium bandwidth, their data transfer might be faster both ways when you try to reach their site, and on the way back.   Increase fees will be from specific sites, not from the consumer ISP. 

In the specific case mentioned of your ISP having a vested interest in UW competitor and hindering access, that violate quite a large number of US laws.   What can realistically happen is any company can pay for faster premium bandwidth,  an option available to both the company affiliated with your ISP as well as UW and anyone else.  That premium pipe cannot be priced in a way that favors any single customer if purchasing the same of commercially equivalent service or product, nor its availability withheld.  

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Is it time for lunch yet?


@Anh N wrote:

@Phyllis G wrote:

@Rene K wrote:

@Phyllis G wrote:

Yes.


 How would you know?


 


Blocking or "slowing down" of legitimate traffic by specific origin or destination is unlikely to ever happen.  What can happen is if a vendor chooses to pay for premium bandwidth, their data transfer might be faster both ways when you try to reach their site, and on the way back.   Increase fees will be from specific sites, not from the consumer ISP. 



 Hey these are your words.....


""Where darkness shines like dazzling light"   —William Ashbless"

Just love that sentence.

 

But if you were to live in alternate reality unfake news world, wouldn't darkness be the "day"?

Sorry to hurt your feelings, fellow humans that live in the United States, but to my mind, the U.S. is going to the dogs. This Net Neutrality thing is another step towards darkness and confusion.

This long and dreary winter will end ... come November, 2018.

 

Sez she who is fervently praying for then.

 

@ Anh, you sound more than knowledgeable so I went to your profile to see what you do.  It is marked private.  Would you mind sharing yo expertize?


@Wendy C wrote:

This long and dreary winter will end ... come November, 2018.

 

Sez she who is fervently praying for then.

 

@ Anh, you sound more than knowledgeable so I went to your profile to see what you do.  It is marked private.  Would you mind sharing yo expertize?


I’ll PM it to you.  Unfortunate, the option for the profile to be visible only to UW logged in users do not apply to the community forum.  I make web applications and count the milliseconds it take for something to be generated and deliver to the end users.  In my career and before working FT, I have had the opportunity to touch the colocation side of things and did much research into how backbone connections from servers work, and the dynamic of how backbone peerings affect Internet traffic flow.   There are many nuances in this debate, both business and technical, and most of it lost beyond the folks who work for the ISP or data centers. 

@Parshant,
Premium vs Normal is not the same context as "deliberate hindrance" vs normal traffic flow.  Context is important,  and whether any advantages can be levied by all parties by choice is important. 

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Is it time for lunch yet?
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