Want To Guarantee Net Neutrality? Join Peer-To-Peer, Community-Run Internet

In a typical week, NYC Mesh–a community-owned internet network in New York City–might get five requests from people who want to join. In the wake of the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to roll back net neutrality rules, it started getting dozens of requests a day. Without net neutrality protections, big telecom companies can choose to slow down or block certain sites. If you want to watch Netflix, for example, Comcast could decide to charge you more to access it. A community-run “mesh” network, by contrast, takes back control from corporations: Everyone on the network can agree to keep all content open. When a system is fully running, the people who use it can cancel their contract with a traditional internet service provider and stop paying any monthly bills.