The Real Future Danger to Net Neutrality
AT&T recently made clear that their customers are not permitted to use BitTorrent or other P2P apps on the company’s 3G high-speed wireless data network. This is significant because in the future most people will be using high-speed wireless data networks for a significant part of their Internet usage. Given that AT&T & Verizon may eventually be the only companies providing such access in the U.S., their choices about what protocols and parts of the Net customers can access will carry a great deal of weight. Even if people maintain unfettered, neutral connections at home (a questionable assumption, given Comcast’s actions), a non-neutral wireless Net could significantly hamper the continued ability of the Net to foster innovation & level playing fields.