Throttled?

Will The V-Shoe Drop?

An excellent Wikipedia summary of Bandwidth throttling describes the intentional slowing of Internet service by an ISP (Internet Service Provider). Throttling can occur at different locations on a network for good reasons, such as preventing crashing.

New “net neutrality” rules by the FCC aim at ending the slowly developing practice of  “pay for speed” policies by ISPs.  On this point,  Engadget has a good summary of the AT&T fine ($100M).

The obvious question for residents of NYC is whether Verizon is preparing to sell the “rats nest” we call landlines and continue attempts to end these landline services.  

Jon Brodkin, June 4, 2014 in a New York Times Op-Ed put it this way…

AT&T and Verizon are pushing hard to shift traditional landline service, which has mostly operated over copper lines, to a system of Internet-based phones by around 2020. If the Federal Communications Commission approves the switch as is, it could come as a shock to the 96 million Americans who still rely on landlines.

A good place to look for current news on issues the Federal Communications Commission manages will be found in the New York Times’ Times Topics section. (here)