Internet declared neutral. No applications or traffic can be prioritized.

The Federal Communication Comission has issued today, as promised, a list of principles that in effect will deny the right of any ISP to prioritize traffic or to limit access to applications. The new Internet Neutrality Policy is premised on the idea that the Internet will stay a hotbed for innovation only if it allows anyone to connect to it with a reasonable expectation that if she failed it was due to any other cause than the fact that Internet access providers hindered her attempts to reach her customers. In FCC’s own words

This means they (ISPs) cannot block or degrade lawful traffic over their networks, or pick winners by favoring some content or applications over others in the connection to subscribers’ homes. Nor can they disfavor an Internet service just because it competes with a similar service offered by that broadband provider. The Internet must continue to allow users to decide what content and applications succeed.

Apparently, this will apply not only to wired, but also to wireless networks. ATT has issues a statement calling that measure a part of a “bait and switch” scheme perpertrated by the government at its expense. ATT says that it would’ve not bid for the new WiMAX network spectrum if it knew that it would be limited in what concerns the use and exploitation of the future high speed wireless network.

A Wired magazine commentator believes , as predicted by Carnegie Mellon Professor David Farber and Berkeley economist Michael Katz, that the measure will have the unintended consequence of forcing ISPs to adopt metered Internet access. The free far all the net neutrality imposes on providers will lead to shortages and data blackouts, which can only be solved through price discrimination and rationing.

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