In a US Court last week, the concept of net neutrality received a
blow to the head from which it may not recover. Why is this important?
Net neutrality is the principle that no content gets preferential
treatment on the internet. All data is treated and transmitted in the
same way, at the same speed, whether coming from a multi-billion dollar
company or from a self-hosted blog. This idea has been a guiding
principle in the development of the internet to date, but also something
that a couple of big digital players have been fighting hard against.
The most active of these are American internet service providers (ISPs)
Verizon and Comcast. The Federal Communications Commission is the body
set up by US government to regulate companies who provide means of
communication to people, originally dealing with telephone companies.
ISPs now fall under their jurisdiction.
Verizon have long been challenging the rules they are governed by.
Last week, they won a major victory in that battle, forcing the FCC to
accept that their application of their own regulations was wrong. You
can read the ruling here (PDF).
The Quietus
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