CYPRUS — xHamster recently released a net neutrality explainer specifically geared toward porn fans, covering likely outcomes for consumers should the United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repeal net neutrality regulations.

Net neutrality is the idea that ISPs must treat all legal internet data the same — regardless of where it comes from, what it contains or who it is going to.

FOX News reported that Harold Feld, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Public Knowledge, compared net neutrality to “an on-ramp to the Internet,” meaning ISPs are “not allowed to interfere with what the subscriber wants to do or where the subscriber wants to go.”

Under net neutrality regulations, ISPs are not allowed to block or “throttle” — meaning slow down — websites or applications.

Understanding net neutrality may be somewhat difficult, even for people communicating, consuming and working via web-based spaces and occupations. This includes members of the adult industry community, as well as content consumers.

The goal of xHamster’s document is to get sometimes apolitical porn fans to understand how the regulations will negatively affect their viewing, the content produced and the effects on the business. This includes censored networks, added fees and financial struggles for performer-run sites.

“You’re a porn fan,” the document states. “Maybe you’re not particularly political. Maybe you hate ALL CAP tweets, petitions, and righteous indignation, and don’t understand why you should waste precious time with your one available hand. Well, dear xHamster fan, net neutrality is the lube by which porn sites live. Kill it, and we’re going to be facing a dry, limp, painful future.”

The idea of consumers being compelled to pay for the content, adult or otherwise, they view is not the issue. Corrupted and controlled access to internet data it.

The text of xHamster’s net neutrality explainer is available below and here.

A Net Neutrality Explainer — for Porn Fans

You’re a porn fan. Maybe you’re not particularly political. Maybe you hate ALL CAP tweets, petitions, and righteous indignation, and don’t understand why you should waste precious time with your one available hand. Well, dear xHamster fan, net neutrality is the lube by which porn sites live. Kill it, and we’re going to be facing a dry, limp, and painful future.

Below, a quick explainer as to why you need to put down the tissue and fight for net neutrality — with both available hands.

Your Porn Could Be Blocked

Yes, you heard that right. If FCC kills net neutrality, your internet service could block your access to xHamster. Right now, under the existing net neutrality rules, your ISP (the cable company, the phone company or whoever provides your internet) is prohibited from discriminating against particular sites. If it’s on the net, and it’s legal, they have to let you access it — for now.

If the regulations are repealed, companies like Comcast and Verizon get to decide what sites you can see, and at what speeds you can access them. We’ve seen private corporations like Marriott or Starbucks block porn sites entirely in response to public pressure, moral panics or crusading legislators. If net neutrality is repealed, the same could happen at the ISP level. Nearly twenty state legislatures have passed legislation declaring porn “a public health crisis” — it’s not unreasonable to think that bigger porn sites like xHamster would be the first targeted.

Many Porn Sites Would Go Bust

Under net neutrality, your ISP can’t make one site load more slowly than another. Thanks to net neutrality, the video you watch on YouTube loads at the same speed as the one on xHamster, or the website of your favorite performer.

If net neutrality is repealed, your ISP could charge sites more if they still want to load quickly, and punish those that don’t pay with much slower speeds. Sites like YouTube and Netflix would likely be able to pay. But small, niche sites? Performer driven sites? Amateur sites? Sexy clown giantess sites? They’ll have to operate more slowly, making them difficult to use. Small producers already have a hard time making ends meet — if net neutrality passes, many would likely be wiped out all together.

Say Goodbye to Porn on Your Phone

You better like lugging your laptop to the bathroom. Companies like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T are already sensitive to data use on phones. Ever try to use the internet when data is limited, like in-flight wifi? We’d expect to see similar restrictions on phones, with many porn sites potentially blocked or becoming unusable, unless you — or the sites themselves — pay up.

What You Can Do

FCC Chairman — and former Verizon lawyer — Ajit Pai is planning on repealing net neutrality in mid-December. So between now and then, there’s a lot of work to do to stop him. First, call or tweet your representative. They have the power to change this, and free internet guide Battle for the Net makes it super easy. 

Second, share this and raise awareness. Not everyone is as woke as you are (now). We get over two billion visits a year — if we could translate that into a block, “the xHamster vote” could be the deciding factor for net neutrality…and beyond!