I kind of laugh at the idea that
It's really ridiculous. Again, I didn't ask for NN, and I didn't ask for it to be repealed.
But the idea that the internet reverting to 30 month prior rules is some kind of Armageddon is insane. The idea that ISPs would suddenly make the internet unusable, you know, the internet they're counting selling for $40-90/mo, just because they can, is ridiculous.
Yes, there are some places without ISP competition, but there is enough competition, with more options coming, in enough places, that I think it's going to be fine.
A lot has changed in the past 30 months. As technology advances, so does our demand. Websites are no longer simply text based.
-Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, Playstation, At&T and Sling, as well as most cable providers, now offer live TV streaming to compete with traditional cable and satellite TV service providers.
-Social Media services like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat now offer live streams, event streaming, as well as video chat.
-Hard data storage is shifting to cloud storage. Reliance on cloud services includes music services, document and file storage, email and MS Office backup, etc.
When folks say that NN stifles progress and innovation, I'd say it's backwards. The installation of NN has protected tech developers to create and push new services and products to market without fear of being bullied out of by competitors in cahoots with ISPs.
The problem with ISPs right now is legacy billing models. Many ISPs are also Cell or cable provides, which is why there's a history or offering content packages or playing favorites with services. It seems that the handful of high speed ISPs in the US could be more adaptive to the market in how consumers use broadband service.
While simple throttling or limiting access to completion, the other aspect that is troubling is potential for content censorship. I don't want anyone telling me what I can or cannot view on the Internet. That includes ISPs that require contract service agreements for new service. Some will say the FCC was having a say for what we the public could see with NN, but I'd argue that the essence of NN is the complete opposite: to prevent service providers from discrimination of data based on type/content. The only recourse that citizens will have going forward is to switch service providers, which could put them into a position where they must break their contracts and pay fines for doing so. Add to that, many ares have limited choices for ISPs and nothing says larger ISPs couldn't team up and lay down rules amongst themselves to behave together to eliminate competition.
The consumers have lost an element of protection, maybe that's something some people want but not most.
