Paying to Travel in the Internet’s Fast Lanes

For a subject that sounds mind-numbingly dull, “network neutrality” is the most important issue facing the Internet since, well, the Internet.

The idea behind net neutrality is that the web material we see on our laptops and smartphones, whether from Google or a tiny little blog, should flow freely through the pipes of the Internet, regardless of origin, destination or content. No one gets special treatment. But what if someone is willing to pay for her data to go faster? This is capitalism. Can’t the people who own the pipes charge more? The issue has come to the fore now that a federal appeals court has ruled that the Federal Communications Commission can no longer stand in the way of AT&T, Verizon and other Internet service providers that might want to create Internet express lanes. Count on it: This battle isn’t over yet. On Jan 31, President Barack Obama said the FCC was considering an appeal with the goal of maintaining “a free and open Internet.”

The question is, Has the Internet become so fundamental to our lives that it is, in essence, a utility that should be subject to regulation?