Your life on the Internet could see significant changes after the Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back the rules on net-neutrality which had providers treating all the web traffic equally.
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"This decision will not break the internet. What we are doing is reverting back to the highly successful, bipartisan, governmental approach that existed before 2015," said Michael O'Rielly, a Republican FCC Commissioner.
Think of cars on a highway as the various websites. They all traveled down the Internet highway at the same speed under net-neutrality. All the rules were equal. Without net-neutrality, Internet service providers can charge to make some sites move faster. And say in a toll lane a provider could charge more for faster speeds. Those who can't or don't want to pay may find speeds much slower. Costs could be passed to consumers.
"There is nothing good about it for consumers in any way. And it's very disruptive of the spirit of the internet and the ways that things have been built," said Dennis Crowley, one of the founders of the location intelligence app Foursquare. He joined Senator Charles Schumer and other Internet tech leaders denouncing the repeal of net-neutrality rules.
"I am announcing my support for a Congressional Review Act Resolution that will restore net-neutrality and undue the evil repeal of it by the FCC," Senator Schumer said.
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Consumers may first see costs passed down from content providers.
"Netflix, I mean Hulu, I mean things you listen to and watch online, their costs will go up and so those costs will go to the consumer," said Julie Samuels, the Executive Director of Tech: NYC.
Consumers could also pay for individual services or packages. And businesses too that have their roots in the Internet could be adversely affected.
"If we can't find ways to help connect consumers with these services, the money that supports content creators goes away," said Brian O'Kelley, CEO of AppNexus.
New York's Attorney General now says he will lead a multi-state lawsuit to stop the FCC from rolling back the rules.