http://www.pcworld.com/article/2087441/appeals-court-strikes-down-fccs-net-neutrality-rules.html The decision holds tremendous portent for the future of the Internet. Net neutrality advocates fear that without rules in place, big companies like Netflix, Disney, and ESPN could gain advantage over competitors by paying ISPs to provide preferential treatment to their company's data. For example, YouTube might pay extra so that its videos load faster than Hulu's on the ISP's network. We've already seen shades of What Could Happen in AT&T's Sponsored Data and Comcast's decision to have the Xfinity TV streaming app for the Xbox 360 not count against Comcast subscribers' data caps. â€We're disappointed that the court came to this conclusion,†Craig Aaron, president and CEO of digital rights group Free Press, said in a statement. “Its ruling means that Internet users will be pitted against the biggest phone and cable companies-and in the absence of any oversight, these companies can now block and discriminate against their customers' communications at will.†The court itself admits that such scenarios are more than mere theoretical concerns: <blockquote>"In support of its conclusion that broadband providers could and would act to limit Internet openness, the Commission pointed to four prior instances in which they had done just that. These involved a mobile broadband provider blocking online payment services after entering into a contract with a competing service; a mobile broadband provider restricting the availability of competing VoIP and streaming video services; a fixed broadband provider blocking VoIP applications; and, of course, Comcast's impairment of peer-to-peer file sharing that was the subject of the Comcast Order." </blockquote>Nevertheless, the lack of common carrier status for ISPs forced the court to strike down the Open Internet Order's anti-blocking and anti-discrimination rules-the very heart of the FCC's net neutrality. The ruling left part of the FCC's Open Internet Order intact, however-most notably the disclosure rules. Basically, if your ISP provides preferential treatment to certain data, it still has to tell you that it's doing so. Not dead yetThe staggering decision doesn't mean all<span> hope is lost, however.</span> "We will consider all available options, including those for appeal, to ensure that these networks on which the Internet depends continue to provide a free and open platform for innovation and expression, and operate in the interest of all Americans," FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement provided to MarketWatch. </blockquote> Is this the end of the internet as we know it? Scary stuff. More info for those who are not sure what Net neutrality is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
If we had a free market another company could come along and supply with net neutrality of their own will and undercut the business of the jackass behind this ruling. Alas. The only free market is the black market, where I prefer to do my shopping, and they don't have internet as far as I know.
[quote name="JohnnyWeedSeed" post="19339181" timestamp="1389723683"]If we had a free market another company could come along and supply with net neutrality of their own will and undercut the business of the jackass behind this ruling. Alas. The only free market is the black market, where I prefer to do my shopping, and they don't have internet as far as I know.[/quote]Pretty sure i heard somewhere that there is a black market web, or at least it is in the works?Idk how it would work. But in this new age of global tyranny im sure freedom lovers and black market will.continue to spreadSent from my LG-E739 using Grasscity Forum mobile app