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"Net Neutrality"

From Heather McDonald,
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Definition:

Net neutrality refers to the way information is tranmitted on the internet. With a neutral internet set up, internet service providers and search engines merely send you the information or the website for which are looking. ISPs are hoping to replace this neutral system with a fee based system in which websites would be pay a fee to the ISP for the service, and the sites that pay the highest fees would be prioritized when a customer searches for a particular term. For instance, if you searched for "venues in NYC", then the venues who pay the greatest fees would be ranked higher in your search results than the venue who pay the least. Venues who do not pay at all may not be included in the search results.

The issue of net neutrality is a hot button one in the music business, because if a fee based system for websites is introduced, well funded major labels will have a signifcant advantage over small labels and indie artists.

Also Known As: Network Neutrality
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