So Long, Net Neutrality

The Internet will be for sale to the highest bidder. That's the message in an article at Daily Kos by Joan McCarter, entitled "Republican FCC member can't wait to end net neutrality, sell the internet to highest bidders."

McCarter says that Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai "has consistently opposed consumer protection rules that the FCC's current Democratic majority imposed on ISPs, including the net neutrality order that forbids blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization."

Under the Trump regime, big corporations will pay for high-speed Internet; your web browsing, or your email to Aunt Martha -- or my blog! -- will be slowed to a crawl if we don't pay a premium.

How are things likely to unfold? McCarter says:

The Trump administration could basically just ignore the open internet rules and refuse to enforce them; the FCC could actually overturn them; or a Republican Congress could overturn them or replace them with something much more friendly to big telecom. Given the massive public support for the open internet, however, the first scenario seems likeliest—it won't have to be a big fight. They can do away with net neutrality on the sly.