Net neutrality may very well be dead. And if it isn’t, the entire idea is currently on life support. I say this because the FCC just did a swift about face on their Internet policies and decided that fast lane pricing for web service is just fine. From The New York Times:
Companies like Disney, Google or Netflix will be allowed to pay Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon for special, faster lanes to send video and other content to their customers under new rules to be proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, the agency said on Wednesday.
The proposed rules are a turnaround for the agency on what is known as net neutrality — the idea that no providers of legal Internet content should be discriminated against in providing their offerings to consumers and that users should have equal access to see any legal content they choose.
The proposal comes three months after a federal appeals court struck down, for the second time, agency rules intended to guarantee a free and open Internet.
Dan has talked at length in the past on this very site about how net neutrality affects you and how the loss of net neutrality would be a major change to how we use the Internet. With the loss of FCC support, we’re sort of at the mercy of the ISPs and that has proven to only work out as long as your wallet can handle it.
I guess you should smoke ’em while you can and download all that porn you’ve been holding off on downloading. At least we’ll be able to sit around and tell our kids about how the Internet used to be before companies charged an arm and a leg to use it.
I can’t wait to tell mine how old grandad used to sit around in his underwear, watching cat videos and beating off constantly during the old days of the Internet. That’s when you could beg people for rent on Indiegogo and download 1tb of music all in the comfort of one afternoon. Then I’ll sh*t my pants and pass out.
(Via New York Times)