What happens after Net Neutrality falls?
The internet five years from now could look a lot different than what it is today.
Building an online business might be harder than ever thanks to the FCC throwing out the rules surrounding Net Neutrality -- the premise that all data on the net should be treated equally regardless of origin or destination. Without Net Neutrality, providers would be free to create so-called "fast lanes" on the internet, prioritizing services that they're friendly to, and relegating those that don't pay up to the slow lane.
At least that's the future many envision if Net Neutrality is thrown out, including those who protested this week in the Net Neutrality Day of Action, which saw many major tech companies -- including Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, and Google -- add their voices to the chorus of entities calling for Net Neutrality to be preserved.
However, Net Neutrality will likely be changed or thrown out no matter what, so the question now becomes: What happens next? On this week's MashTalk, we explore what a future without Net Neutrality looks like, and ask: Is there a chance it might even be better for consumers in some ways?
Mashable Business Editor Jason Abbruzzese and Tech Correspondent Jack Morse join Pete, Lance, and... Elmo...? for an important discussion on the future of the internet.
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Topics Net Neutrality
Pete Pachal was Mashable’s Tech Editor and had been at the company from 2011 to 2019. He covered the technology industry, from self-driving cars to self-destructing smartphones.Pete has covered consumer technology in print and online for more than a decade. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Pete first uploaded himself into technology journalism at Sound & Vision magazine in 1999. Pete also served as Technology Editor at Syfy, creating the channel's technology site, DVICE (now Blastr), out of some rusty HTML code and a decompiled coat hanger. He then moved on to PCMag, where he served as the site's News Director.Pete has been featured on Fox News, the Today Show, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC and CBC.Pete holds degrees in journalism from the University of King's College in Halifax and engineering from the University of Alberta in Edmonton. His favorite Doctor Who monsters are the Cybermen.
