Much of the Internet rejoiced when net neutrality rules were approved by the Federal Communications Commission last week.
The landmark vote will mean that the Internet is under the most stringent regulation yet including enhanced transparency, application to landline and wireless, and a the bedrock Open Internet principles.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2015/02/26/net-neutrality-wins/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EBut for all the hubbub, it would be hard to blame people who didn't see why it was a big deal. The Internet worked the same on the days before and after the vote.
Critics of the move have said that the FCC is trying to fix a system that isn't broken, and that the possible harms that the net neutrality rules seek to prevent are non-existent.
This is mostly true, but every so often there's an example of why net neutrality advocates fought for the new rules with such fervor.
One of those examples emerged on Thursday in a report from Techdirt. Comcast customers that want to access HBO Go from a PlayStation 4 are hitting a roadblock, the site reported. Other ISPs are serving HBO Go just fine.
Interesting: Comcast appears to be ONLY major ISP not enabling #HBOGO on #PS4 – DC will love this https://t.co/BWjC4dbMcA via @techdirt— Rich Greenfield (@RichBTIG) March 5, 2015
This isn't the first time that Comcast has had issues with Sony's PlayStation. The same thing happened with HBO Go, Comcast and PlayStation 3.
Comcast previously claimed the situation was due to technical issues. This time, Comcast told Techdirt that the business terms had not yet been agreed upon.
At some point, the two sides will probably reach a deal and PS4 owners will be able to stream HBO Go. But there's an important lesson in the delay.
Whether it's a problem between Comcast and Sony or Comcast and HBO does not particularly matter for consumers. There's a business issue and that's preventing people from gaining access to the content.
The solution is twofold: net neutrality rules and the standalone HBO Go app that is coming soon.
With the new "HBO Now," customers will be able to stream video without a cable authentication, which is susceptible to corporate wrangling. Net neutrality rules are designed to make sure no such corporate wrangling ends up preventing people from accessing the content that they have paid for.