FCC Repeals Net Neutrality
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 along party lines today to end net neutrality regulations -- more specifically, to repeal the Open Internet Order passed in 2015 and replace it with a new Restoring Internet Freedom Order.
The new rule returns broadband to its classification as a Title I information service, and removes so-called "bright line rules" prohibiting Internet service providers from blocking, throttling or giving preferential treatment to traffic through paid prioritization.
The decision was expected, but it triggered an uproar from net neutrality advocates who believe the decision is against the public interest, and will lead to pay-for-play delivery of content on the web.
But Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai says the Internet doesn't need utility-style regulation, and the earlier Open Internet Order led to decreased broadband investment, a conclusion that's much debated.
My colleague Mari Silbey has the news on Light Reading: FCC Ends Net Neutrality.
(Photo by Mari Silbey, Light Reading)
— Mitch Wagner 
Editor, Enterprise Cloud News
Arguably, stricter net-neutrality regs on providers eliminates the risk of throttling -- but the expense of subsidizing torrenters and video power-streamers would wind up being underwritten by all consumers (not to mention the actual direct costs of regulatory compliance, which are passed onto consumers as fees).
Without the regs, on the other hand, the power to restrict the flow of data lies with the providers -- and services like Netflix would potentially have to be the ones to charge more to ensure that they stay off the low-priority list.But that's a worst-case scenario world... Well, not worst-case, I guess, but in any case, I don't buy the near-apocalyptic vision that some net-neutrality proponents have spread through fearmongering of different tiers of service that restrict or deny access to various websites cable-package like.
Either way, we the consumers are getting it in the shorts. We can rest easy knowing that someone somewhere will find a way to screw us regardless of what happens. ;)
Realistically, what I expect to happen now is the proliferation of zero-rating and not much else except regarding the "power users" (after all, we're not in a much different position than we were in the time between when the 2010 Internet Order was struck down by a federal court and when the 2015 Internet Order was enacted). Most people's lives will be relatively unaffected. Moreover, I suspect (and I want to emphasize that this is mere conjecture on my part) that cable companies and other providers started charging consumers more, as I stated in my reply to @kq4ym, to underwrite the cost of regulatory compliance with the 2015 Order...and the punchline will be that those costs don't go down.