Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NYTimes Editorial Board: The FCC Wants To Let Telecoms Cash In on the Internet (nytimes.com)

Posted by msmash on from the everyone-agrees dept.

The New York Times' Editorial Board writes: The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wants to let Comcast, Verizon and other broadband companies turn the internet into a latter-day version of cable TV, in which they decide what customers can watch and how much they pay for that content. That's essentially what would happen under the proposal by the chairman, Ajit Pai, to abandon the commission's network neutrality rules, which prevent telecom companies from interfering with how their customers use the internet. Net neutrality prevents those companies from having companies like Amazon pay a fee to get their content delivered more quickly than their rivals', and from having the firms throttle other services and websites, even blocking customer access to, say, Netflix or an online newspaper. Under Mr. Pai's proposal, telecom companies would effectively be allowed to sell you a basic internet plan that might include only limited access to Google and email. For Facebook and Twitter you might need a slightly more expensive deluxe plan. The premium plan might include access to Netflix and Amazon. Oh, and by the way, media businesses eager to gain more users could pay broadband companies to be included in their enhanced basic or deluxe plans. Further reading: Associated Press fact check: Net-neutrality claims leave out key context; The death of the Internet.

1 of 268 comments (clear)

  1. New Pricing Structure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Internet Access: 40.00/Mo @ 500Gb
    Modem Rental: $10.00/Mo - Mandatory Use of Modem
    Modem Insurance Fee: $1.00/Mo
    Extra Computer Fee: $10.00/Mo/PC -Must use our router

    NetFlix Fee: $10.00/Mo/client
    Social Network Package Fee: $4.00/Mo
    Email Fee: $2.00/Mo
    VPN Fee:$50.00/Mo
    VoIP Fee: $50.00/Mo
    Skype Fee: $5.00/Mo

    Non-Approved Browser Fee: $5.00/Mo
    Non-Approved Application Fee: $4.00/Mo/application
    Non-Approved OS Fee: $10.00/Mo

    Mandatory AntiVirus Fee: $4.00/Mo

    Blocked: Bittorrent, SSH, Non-Approved VPN, Non-Approved OS, Non-Approved Routers, Non-Approved Sites

    Early Payment Fee: $1.00
    Late Payment Fee: $10.00
    Early Termination Fee: $100
    Fee Payment Fee: $1.00
    Fee Payment Fee Recovery Fee: $1.00
    Fee Payment Fee Recovery Fee Surcharge: $1.00
    Fee Payment Fee Recovery Fee Surcharge Levy: $1.00
    Fee Payment Fee Recovery Fee Surcharge Levy Premium: $1.00
    Excess Data Fee: $20.00/Gb
    Unused Data Fee: $0.10/Gb
    Paper Bill Fee: $1.00/pg