I had never heard of net neutrality prior to Jan. 14 — and that particular day was a significant one for the World Wide Web. 

On that day, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down most of the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Order, otherwise referred to as net neutrality. 

For those that don’t know what it is, feel no shame, because it can mean different things to different people. 

From what I understand, net neutrality is the idea that all types of data — that comes from any and every source — should be delivered equally by connections provided by Internet Service providers.

These rules make sure that the Internet is provided in a fair and non-discriminatory fashion. We should have equal access to multiple facets of the Internet, such as when we want to start a new website, create a new blog to compete with CNN or watch Netflix for 10 hours straight. 

The FCC adopted three basic open Internet rules: transparency, anti-blocking and anti-discrimination. ISPs must disclose information regarding their services, may not block lawful content services and may not discriminate lawful network traffic over a consumer’s Internet service. 

It might be easier to understand these if they were put into examples. 

If you are watching House of Cards on Netflix, and the performance of the streaming is mediocre at best, your ISP would have to tell you why the show is not loading quickly (transparency). 

If Comcast — an owner of NBC — is your ISP, the company can’t block or slow down the websites and services from rival networks such as ABC or CBS (anti-blocking and anti-discrimination).  

But with the Jan. 14 ruling from a federal appeals court in Verizon v. FCC, the court tossed out the anti-discrimination and the anti-blocking rules leaving ISPs having only to comply with the transparency rule.

Originally, ISPs such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T were not allowed to mess with the Internet speed that is being provided in the pipes that give millions of people across the country access to the Internet. 

Now, these companies want to set up a restricted fast lane of Internet exclusively for their own partners and services. Other websites would have to pay a higher fee to use the high-speed service, thus making them gatekeepers.

The court’s reason behind the ruling is because of the FCC’s decision to classify Internet providers as information services rather than telecommunication. The FCC lacks the authority to regulate the Internet when it’s classified under information services. 

As college students, we should be concerned that ISPs now have the potential to limit their users’ experiences. 

If you think about it, we spend many of our hours on the Internet from doing research for papers, reading the news on various outlets and watching YouTube videos of cats doing silly things. 

The Internet can be thought of as our campus. Now, the analogy of the Internet being like our campus is not exactly the same, but it does share some qualities. 

We want our campus to be free of discrimination, have access to all the possible opportunities and services, and know we are safe to explore as we please.  

For example, another way to think about it is how registered student organizations operate here at the University. 

Imagine that a RSO is a website. It starts out small, but with hard work and access to the best and most reliable services from the University, it can grow into something great. 

This is how small RSOs can start from the bottom and make their way to the top. 

It would not be fair for the University to restrict the new and smaller RSOs from developing because then we would have, like, 10 big clubs to join.

We love variety, we love choice and we love innovation. 

The FCC can do something. According to Digital Trends, the FCC can consider ISPs “common carriers,” “the category including phone companies, and then it can reestablish net neutrality.” 

That is much easier said then done. There are a plethora of powerful organizations, businesses and people who don’t believe that the federal government should regulate ISPs. 

So what can we the people do? Well, as usual, not much. 

There is a website, www.savetheinternet.com, that you can take action on and as the site’s name suggests, help save the Internet. 

Whether you take action or not, I think what’s most important is to be aware of what net neutrality is. Its future could have lasting impact on the Internet we know and love. 

I pride myself in being a fan of the Internet, and yet until now I was not even informed in the ongoing battle that could decide the fate of the Internet.

Thaddeus is a senior in LAS. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Thaddingham.