Net Neutrality Defeated

Republicans today beat back an attempt today by Democrats to keep the internet neutral. Now companies like "Ma Bell" , Verizon (who was part of Ma Bell), and Comcast can make their own rules as to priority of service.

(Cnet)By an 8-to-23 margin, the committee members rejected a Democratic-backed "Net neutrality" amendment to a current piece of telecommunications legislation. The amendment had attracted support from companies including Amazon.com, eBay, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, and their chief executives wrote a last-minute letter to the committee on Wednesday saying such a change to the legislation was "critical."

This philosophical rift extends beyond the precise wording of the telecommunications legislation. It centers on whether broadband providers will be free to design their networks as they see fit and enjoy the latitude to prioritize certain types of traffic--such as streaming video--over others