5 things to know about ‘net neutrality’: Netflix, Twitter and Internet activists have won. Big cable has lost. At least until the federal courts get involved, when everything could change. Five things you need to know about the Federal Communications Commission’s vote Thursday to enforce “net neutrality” rules for the broadband industry. No. 1: Net Neutrality is what you already have. With few exceptions, the cable and wireless companies that provide much of the nation’s broadband already operate under the idea of net neutrality. This means they don’t discriminate a mong similar types of web traffic, and don’t intentionally slow or block data.
Stock market shrugs off net neutrality vote: The stock market largely shrugged off the FCC’s vote to impose tougher rules on broadband providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T to prevent them from creating paid fast lanes for the Internet and slowing or blocking Web traffic. The new rules enforce the idea of “net neutrality”—that websites or videos load at the same speed—and require that any company providing a broadband connection to your home or phone must act in the “public interest” and can’t employ “unjust or unreasonable ” business practices. It represents the biggest regulatory shake-up to U.S. telecommunications providers in almost two decades.
