[RN_Grp2] Net Neutrality...

Free and open information flow rests on a crucial foundation: equal access. Luckily, the creators of the Internet had this in mind and took care of it by building an open and decentralized network where anybody with a server and line can jump in. The address system they invented also provides equal access, unless you are a client while your server filters some particular ones out. Everybody can be equally connected to anybody else, that was the premise.

But the commercial interests of a capitalist society rests upon the concept of differentiation. To provide something special for some more money, and provide something crappy for less money, thus motivating people to spend more. Since the Internet structure itself cannot be profoundly changed now (though there are constantly attempts to do that), there is only one other way left for differentiation of access: slow down the line for some, make it faster for others. To hell with the net neutrality principle, that was in the world since radio and telephone.
Unlike the server hosting market where it is a fully competitive market, the ISP market is an oligopoly. It requires a lot of capital and time to construct the infrastructure. So users, server managers and Internet companies do not have much alternative than following the rules of the ISPs. Information society for sure, but still the ones with the capital can control the information flow. Without net neutrality, even more so.

However, it does not necessarily mean that now all Internet access is of the same speed. There are servers that could afford only a smaller bandwidth, slower server computers with outdated DB programs, or simply have no other choice than to be routed through some slow switches (such as servers in far away countries). There already have been differences on the server side for mostly commercial reasons, and now the ISPs want to implement differences themselves for their commercial interests. Probably, people will be able to buy faster connection speeds from the ISPs, just as people can buy faster servers, programs and bandwidth now. I'm not saying that net neutrality is unimportant, but that we shouldn't forget that even with the net neutality principle we are already somewhat short of the ideals of equal access. There's a lot more to be done.