For years, the government has upheld the principle of ???Net neutrality,??? the belief that everyone should have equal access to the web without preferential treatment.
But now, Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and a former cable and telecommunications top gun, is circulating potential new rules that reportedly would put a price tag on climbing aboard the Internet. The largest and richest providers, giant corporations such as Verizon and Comcast – in mid-takeover of Time Warner Cable – like the idea. They could afford to buy their way to the front of the line. Everyone else – nonprofit groups, startups and everyday users – would have to move to the rear, and the Net would be neutral no more.