"The FCC just gave Big Telecom an early Christmas present, by giving internet service providers yet another way to put corporate profits over consumers,"
- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
Well since the early days of the internet all data has been considered equal.
There was no banning or blocking of sites and "fast" and "slow" lanes for predefined traffic was banned.
All that is about to change in the US.
Is this the first brick in the equivalent of the great firewall of China?
There are arguments on both sides, the pro neutrality camp argues that ISP's would want to block or slow down competitors offerings. The anti camp argue that specialised services like video conferencing, telemedicine and connected vehicles need fast lanes.
The new plan that was adopted yesterday could kill the open internet as we know it.
The newly empowered ISP's have committed to not abuse their newfound position of power by that remains to be seen. With competitive advantage and hence monetary incentives in place I do not hold much hope that this goodwill will last long.
One of the biggest fears is that innovation will be dampened as new startups are more likely to feel more of the pain from unequal billing than the likes of the already established players.