The Next Net Neutrality Debate
Without two-tier pricing, telephone companies might not have ushered in mass communications more than a century ago.
It may have the answer.
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Since the early 2000s, a small but influential cohort of policy wonks and pundits has argued that the Federal Communications Commission should prohibit internet service providers such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast from charging different rates for high-speed connections to digital content (or “edge”) companies such as Amazon, Netflix and Google.
Rallying around the banner of “net neutrality,” these activists believe that the ISPs, as they are known, should treat all content on the internet equally, charging everyone the same amount of money for equally fast (or slow) access to all websites.