Look out Netflix and Google! An analyst thinks the court may allow ISPs to charge you

After the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard arguments in Verizon v. Federal Communications Commission, Stifel Nicolas, an investment bank in Washington (DC) issued a note that said the court might be ready to let broadband providers charge Internet edge providers for improved connections to broadband customers. Stifel Nicolas, however, thought that the court wouldn’t strip the FCC of its authority to regulate broadband.

If the court does indeed let the telcos and pay TV providers implement a fast lane for content it may not strip the FCC of authority, but it would do its part to kill the idea of network neutrality. The companies that deliver over-the-top services and have been defenders (in part) of network neutrality might not mind the results if it ensures their content can be delivered to end-users without glitches. Already Google and the backbone providers for services such as Netflix, pay fees to some ISPs for more ports to ensure enough capacity to deliver quality service to the ISPs’ end users.