02-09-2017, 06:48 PM
What the Net Neutrality Rollback Means for Netflix Users
FCC To Roll Back Net Neutrality Policies
Under President Donald Trump’s newly-minted chairman, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is quickly working to eliminate regulations created to ensure internet service providers (ISPs) grant equal access to all web content — the rules commonly known as “net neutrality.”
The shift is part of an unspooling of FCC policies from the Obama administration. On Friday, new chairman Ajit Pai announced the end of “Lifeline,” a relatively new federal program created to help subsidize home internet and phone services for low-income households. Almost 13 million Americans were estimated to be eligible for the credit.
The action signals a major breakaway from the Obama-era FCC, which treated the internet as a public utility, creating policies like net neutrality to support that thinking. Pai, who previously served as a FCC Commissioner, has long embraced an adversarial view of many of those regulations. In a speech in December prior to his nomination as FCC chair, he expressed optimism that many of the FCC’s “outdated and unnecessary regulations” would soon be eliminated.
Wait, What Exactly is Net Neutrality?
Have you used Netflix lately? If the answer is yes, today’s news could affect how you stream.
Without net neutrality, an ISP like Optimum, Verizon, or Comcast could potentially slow down or block access to services like Netflix or Hulu, as many ISPs run competitive streaming services to which they hope to draw consumers. Comcast, for example, has its Xfinity TV app.
By slowing down stream speeds for services like Netflix, ISPs can give themselves key advantages. First, frustrated users are likely to flock to their streaming products, and secondly, Netflix — unwilling to lose any of its 93 million subscribers — will be forced to pay the ISP for access to faster speeds.
This is called “paid prioritization,” and it’s a major threat to smaller, start-up businesses, as it forces them to pony up to reach audiences. “It becomes anti-competitive if they are charging websites for access to customers, because the service provider has a large market share, as opposed to charging for real costs for managing the connection,” John Bergmayer, senior staff attorney at consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge told U.S. News & World Report after the net neutrality rule was first passed.
(click on the link at the top for the full article)
FCC To Roll Back Net Neutrality Policies
Under President Donald Trump’s newly-minted chairman, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is quickly working to eliminate regulations created to ensure internet service providers (ISPs) grant equal access to all web content — the rules commonly known as “net neutrality.”
The shift is part of an unspooling of FCC policies from the Obama administration. On Friday, new chairman Ajit Pai announced the end of “Lifeline,” a relatively new federal program created to help subsidize home internet and phone services for low-income households. Almost 13 million Americans were estimated to be eligible for the credit.
The action signals a major breakaway from the Obama-era FCC, which treated the internet as a public utility, creating policies like net neutrality to support that thinking. Pai, who previously served as a FCC Commissioner, has long embraced an adversarial view of many of those regulations. In a speech in December prior to his nomination as FCC chair, he expressed optimism that many of the FCC’s “outdated and unnecessary regulations” would soon be eliminated.
Wait, What Exactly is Net Neutrality?
Have you used Netflix lately? If the answer is yes, today’s news could affect how you stream.
Without net neutrality, an ISP like Optimum, Verizon, or Comcast could potentially slow down or block access to services like Netflix or Hulu, as many ISPs run competitive streaming services to which they hope to draw consumers. Comcast, for example, has its Xfinity TV app.
By slowing down stream speeds for services like Netflix, ISPs can give themselves key advantages. First, frustrated users are likely to flock to their streaming products, and secondly, Netflix — unwilling to lose any of its 93 million subscribers — will be forced to pay the ISP for access to faster speeds.
This is called “paid prioritization,” and it’s a major threat to smaller, start-up businesses, as it forces them to pony up to reach audiences. “It becomes anti-competitive if they are charging websites for access to customers, because the service provider has a large market share, as opposed to charging for real costs for managing the connection,” John Bergmayer, senior staff attorney at consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge told U.S. News & World Report after the net neutrality rule was first passed.
(click on the link at the top for the full article)
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
