Imagine opening up your browser, typing in www.userfriendly.org to view your favorite comic, and getting this message:
We’re sorry, but this feature is only available to premium subscribers of Comcast Internet. Please click here to upgrade your subscription for only $9.95 / month.
You’d be pretty pissed off right? Well, this situation will become reality tomorrow.
Congress is expected to pass a bill tomorrow allowing the cable companies control over their networks.
You see, under the communications decency act of 1996, telephone companies couldn’t offer preferential treatment. They simply had to allow any bits on their networks to flow. That’s how the freedom of the internet came about, and it’s largely responsible for its rapid growth; not to mention allowing anybody with a laptop to start a website.
A recent ruling said that high speed lines don’t fall under this act, and that’s where the problems come in.
Cable companies already miss the point (see the old “google is using my pipes and not paying me” type articles), and you can expect them to miss the point even more so after the bill gets approved wednesday.
The internet as we know it is over. Expect the monopolistic cable companies to engage in any type of profiteering or anti-competitive practices they see fit. After wednesday, there’s nothing in place to stop them.