Internet Access: Fair Game?

'Network neutrality' – providing fair access to the Internet, regardless of the type of content – has long generated plenty of debate and controversy.

A recent FCC ruling however allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to charge premiums to data-heavy content providers (such as Netflix and YouTube) to deliver their data at higher speeds, provided they meet a new standard of "commercial reasonableness".

This came after the FCC lost a court ruling to Verizon that challenged the requirement to treat all Internet traffic as equal.

Across the pond however, this issue remains slightly less divisive, with the European Parliament last month agreeing proposals to ensure net-neutrality is preserved. Ed Richards (CEO of Ofcom) however has expressed concern about this regulation and said in a public letter that " well-intentioned but over-prescriptive and detailed legislation may deliver the opposite of the intended effect".