What the end of net neutrality means for YOU: Experts warn it could lead to price increases for consumers and a ‘two tier’ internet
Providers would be free to slow down or block access to services they don’t like
Could also charge higher fees to rivals and make them pay up for higher speeds,
Will be able to set up ‘fast lanes’ for their preferred services – relegating everyone else to ‘slow lanes’
DAILYMAIL.COM
15 December 2017
Now that the federal government has rolled back the internet protections it put in place two years ago, the big question is: What does the repeal of ‘net neutrality’ rules mean to you?
In the short term, the answer is simple: Not much.
But over time, your ability to watch what you want to watch online and to use the apps that you prefer could start to change.
Your mobile carrier, for instance, might start offering you terrific deals for signing up to its own video service, just as your YouTube app starts suffering unexpected connection errors.
Or you could wake one day to learn that your broadband provider is having a tiff with Amazon, and has slowed down its shopping site in order to extract business concessions.
All of which would be perfectly legal under the new deregulatory regime approved Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission, so long as the companies post their policies online.
Broadband providers insist they won’t do anything that harms the ‘internet experience’ for consumers.
WHAT HAPPENED
On Thursday, the FCC repealed Obama-era ‘net neutrality’ rules, junking the longtime principle that all web traffic must be treated equally.
The move represents a radical departure from more than a decade of federal oversight.
The big telecommunications companies had lobbied hard to overturn the rules, contending they are heavy-handed and discourage investment in broadband networks.
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