Without network neutrality, what stops HBO from turning the Internet into cable?

[Commentary] Several years ago, someone came up with a potent worst-case scenario for an Internet without network neutrality: it would look like cable TV. With the option to slow down or block individual sites and programs, Internet service providers would give you the Internet equivalent of basic cable, then charge extra for "News" and "Hollywood" bundles with Digg and YouTube instead of CNN and Showtime.

So what happens when, after almost a year with no net neutrality rules, a company whose name is synonymous with premium cable jumps online? "I think cable operators are aware that more and more content is going to move online," says John Bergmayer of Public Knowledge. "Instead of trying to stop that trend, I think cable companies would just like to find ways to control it -- either by offering the online content themselves or coming up with ways to get online video services to pay them." The most extreme version of this would be throttling a particular Internet service: if you don’t pay a little extra, HBO Go slows to a crawl, and the cable-fication of the Internet begins.

Whether or not the Federal Communications Commission adopts meaningful network neutrality rules, as it’s promised to do this year, HBO is still a step towards a world where everything lives on the Internet by default. Even if it sides with ISPs instead of Netflix, it’s no longer literally tied to traditional television. Is the Internet heading the way of cable? "I don’t know. I think today it looks like cable," says Matt Wood of net neutrality advocacy group Free Press. "It sounds to me like this is probably an improvement."