How to be a responsible citizen of the internet in a post-net neutrality world

It's now up to you and everyone else surfing the internet to make sure companies don't destroy it.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to end net neutrality on Thursday, which could mean the end of the open internet as we know it. While there will be long court battles ahead as agencies attempt to undo or block the FCC's decision, there are a few things that good citizens of the internet can expect and look out for should any internet company begin to take advantage.

Here's what you need to know:

Things are not going to happen quickly 

Despite the quick vote from the FCC, throttled and packaged internet will likely not roll out immediately. While that may seem like a blessing, companies know the public is keeping an eye out, and any major rollouts would be quickly spotted.

SEE ALSO: Breitbart and Infowars are anti-net neutrality, but could be hit hard under repeal

"None of these companies are going to start offering a tiered internet program tomorrow. Piece by piece they're going to start chipping away at it. Then, all of a sudden, we're in an internet that feels a lot like cable channel bundles," said Florian Schaub, assistant professor of information at the University of Michigan.

"The changes will be very creeping. I think the stuff we will be seeing more and more is zero rating. First it seems like a nice benefit for consumers. 'Now Netflix is free and doesn't count towards your data cap,'" Schaub said. "The next step is to watch out for what are the requirements for companies to be part of these zero rating offers."

As an example, Schaub pointed to T-Mobile's Binge On service, which allows you to watch certain streaming services on your mobile device that do not count towards your data caps. In order to comply with net neutrality, T-Mobile allowed any streaming service to become part of this service.

"In the future there may be a financial threshold. You may need to be part of these services, and it will be fully legal," Schaub said.

So while a big player like Amazon will be able to shell out money for a spot in the preferred service, smaller companies may not be given the same access. That is bad for the little guys, and often the little guys make the best stuff on the internet. 

Read the 'Terms of Service'

Almost nobody reads those ridiculously long terms of service agreements, but it may be a good time to start. Companies will have to disclose any changes made to their services, but they won't make it easy to find or understand.

"Next time Comcast, Verizon, AT&T update their terms of service (TOS) or privacy policy, what are they actually changing?" Schaub said. "It's probably not going to be super obvious and might just be things where they kind of loosen the language a little bit to allow them to do stuff they weren't allowed before, but that's the stuff to watch out for."

When asked if people were going to go through TOS more carefully than before, Schaub was not very confident. 

"There's no real incentive to reading them. Even if you don't agree, what are you going to do? Not using internet at home anymore?  You don't really have much of a way of recourse. So ultimately that role there probably falls to researchers and activists to kind of really watch what these companies are doing and then take action." 

Watch for throttling and blocking

While internet packages and blocking has been the go-to evil theory tossed into the mix from disbanding net neutrality, the silent killer may be throttling, which will allow your ISP to slow down your access speeds to certain areas of the internet. Under this new shift, it is entirely possible that companies will start throttling, but there's a catch — it must be disclosed. 

If you do feel your internet is being throttled in some way, make a stink about it. 

Disbanding net neutrality essentially restored authority to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), but there are not many regulations set up in terms of what ISPs can and can't do. Additionally, it's unclear if the FTC even has any jurisdiction over these companies. 

"As long as the companies are transparent about who they're throttling and why, they're allowed to do it. Watching out for it is definitely helpful, but the only way to actually do something is if they throttle but don't disclose that in their terms of service," Schaub said.

So if you do suspect throttling that isn't disclosed, or even if it is disclosed, file a complaint with the FTC  and FCC for unfair or disruptive behavior. The FTC won't monitor these companies, they rely on the public to report wrongdoing. 

"Even though the majority of the FCC is not listening to consumer voices, consumers have to continue to speak up," FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said last week on the Mashable podcast Biz Please. "If you feel you have been blocked or slowed down by your Internet Service Provider, if you service continues to get worse ... you  need to complain to the FCC no matter what authority it has or has not accepted."

Get involved and stay active

Perhaps the biggest threat to the free and open internet is the public losing interest. Staying up to date on the most recent updates, complaints, developments, and concerns is essential. If users stand down and let big corporations regulate the internet to their desire, they will continue to push, and squeeze every dollar they can from your pocket every time you log on. 

• Subscribe to the Net Neutrality subreddit.

• Set up a Google alert of net neutrality and read the news each day.

• Join Twitter and become part of the conversation.

Call your representatives

We know, we know. 2017 has been the year of "call your representatives," but it truly is one of the most important and influential things you can do. 

"Call your representatives and tell them to reinstate net neutrality and make net neutrality a law ... that's really the only way to make Congress understand that this is not OK," said Schaub. 

Making net neutrality a law will protect the open internet for years to come. California State Senator Scott Wiener says he plans to introduce legislation to require net neutrality in The Golden State, and is actively working with the "Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, and other organizations dedicated to a free and open internet" to do so. There is no reason, with enough support, that other states can't attempt to do the same. 

Battle for the Open Internet is a great place to find your representatives, see where they stand, and contact them. 

"Even if you feel that there is no place to go, you need to talk to the FCC, you need to talk to your state, local, and federal officials to say exactly what is going on when it comes to your service," said Clyburn.

Donate to organizations that will fight for you

Would you rather give your hard-earned cash to a major telecom corporation or to a non-profit that will act as a watchdog to help protect your interests?

The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation are great places to start.  

Don't believe the doublespeak

Politicians and the FCC are going to try to swing the FCC's recent decision as a way to deregulate and make a more open internet, and this could not be further from the truth. It's deceitful, and frankly, disgusting that they're trying to spin net neutrality as an overreach from the Obama administration in order to convince you that this is a good thing for the internet.

Ultimately, if you are a well-off individual, this may not hurt you at all. If you have the money to purchase the whole internet with the fastest speeds, you may see no change. Who this is likely to affect is people of low socioeconomic status, who may not be able to afford the best package, or who may only have one option of an ISP. 

While opening the internet to the entire world has posed some problems (see: Nazis and ISIS on Twitter) it has also done an unmeasurable amount of good. An open and free internet should now be considered a basic human right, don't let some corporate shrew tell you otherwise. 

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