One Frightening Chart Shows What You Might Pay For Internet Once Net Neutrality Is Gone

[LiberalArkie]

43. That is what they are wanting to do.

SO sites like Google, Youtube and the majors will cough up extra bucks to get their through put. But small sites like DU, and most of the "free" sites that have all the real news, will be getting maybe 100k or less throughput to the home. That is the name of the game.

It happened a long time ago with BBS systems. They were tired of independent people buying the phone lines to hook up to the telco. So the phone companies passed tariffs that any place that had more than 3 phone lines had to pay business rates. That shut down many systems. Some telcos had in their tariffs that if you had a modem or fax machine in a residence, all the phone lines had to be business. Because why would a home need a modem if they were not conducting business there.

I paid $26 a month for each phone line (measured rate) for my BBS, business rate was $125 a month.

It was not about money, it was publishing information that THEY had no control over. They had not problem with AOL paying only $12 a month per line, just did not want an independent group out there doing it.

It still comes down to that, if the telcos and other carriers can do that, then you will see the slow death of independent sites, all those little places where people get their info, where independent business sell things. The Amazon's will be there. The MSNBC, NYTimes and others will be there. The DU, KOS, Reddit, Mother Jones and others will not be here as we know it.

It happened before, I hope it doesn't happen again.