Old Timey Video Explains Net Neutrality in 60 Seconds

Show this video to your friends and family if they ask about net neutrality

Ron Burgundy likes to think of himself as "kind of a big deal," but so is the topic of net neutrality, which we'd like to see him report on once the Anchorman series reaches the Internet era. In the meantime, it's up to us to educate ourselves on the topic, as well as make sure that our less tech savvy friends and family know exactly what's at stake. If you're having trouble explaining net neutrality to one of them, here's a short video that will help.

The embedded video below (which was brought to our attention by Business Insider) takes the core concept of net neutrality and presents a simplified visual using the analogy of cars traveling on a freeway. It begins with various vehicles all traveling down the freeway without obstruction. Some say YouTube and Twitch on the side, while others are unidentified.

Out of nowhere, a guy with a Comcast hat strolls onto the scene and sets up a toll booth. Netflix pays up and is able to race along at full speed, while an unidentified vehicle that refused to pay the toll has an obstruction place on his tire that slows it down considerably.

The video plays into the fact that Netflix recently inked a multi-year agreement with Comcast to make sure its traffic would reach the homes of Comcast subscribers at full speed. Prior to the agreement, Comcast customers frequently complained about frequent buffering, degradation in video quality, and even dropped videos.

In any event, here's the video