Well, the big news today is that net neutrality regulations end in the US. What does this mean? Now, internet providers can decide if they want to block certain websites from their users or charge an additional fee or subscription for their users to get access. Still want to stream Netflix? “Oh, that will be an additional $10/ month”. Data providers can also now throttle, or slow down, websites that don’t pay them a premium for fast delivery.
Time will tell what will happen, and it may still be months before we see any changes, however, the power that these companies now have, that we were protected from under net neutrality is staggering and quite scary.
So, now what? Some states are attempting to pass the own legislation, including Washington State, that will uphold much of what net neutrality did. Whether these legislations will hold up federally is still up for debate. There is also a motion in Congress that would force the Republican majority in the House to bring up a vote on the floor to rescind the Pai order and reinstate the 2015 rules.
On to more updates!
