I hope you all enjoyed the internet circa 1994 to 2017. It will never be the same. Like a frog in boiling water, we won't know we are cooked until it's too late.
It really won't even be something that can be called the "internet" anymore. The changes will be slow, gradual and scientifically tested serving sizes for public consumption. For the first few years it'll feel like the Telecom companies were on our side and chose not to abuse their new powers. Pledge's made by telecom companies will silently be altered with more vague language allowing for more abuse. (
https://gizmodo.com/comcast-changed-its-net-neutrality-pledge-the-day-after-1820852207)
The throttling of bandwidth will begin first. It will be subtle. So subtle that it'll feel like a typical evening of high traffic in the neighborhood. Oh shucks, Netflix seems to be studdering more than usual tonight. Gosh Hulu seems to be slow too, must be every kid in the neighborhood on their Nintendo Switch's tonight.
Then one day it'll happen. Men will notice it first, likely pre-dawn. PornHub will require an access fee. Not from PornHub, but from your internet provider. The Telecom companies in their infinite wisdom have deemed streaming porn sites as too bandwidth intensive and counter to their agenda of keeping you within their desired circle of websites for you to spend your money on.
That will be the morning men across America will realize they've lost their freedoms. They will dither about wether or not they can afford to be seen by their wife to be paying for access to PornHub on their credit card bills. Some men who have prepared for this moment will use secretive credit cards or aliases.
After PornHub et al, will be surcharges to your PG rated streaming services - Netflix, Hulu, Prime and their ilk will now cost you 25% more initially. A nominal fee to your internet provider for all that bandwidth those hog websites use up.
This is the fee that's going to creep and creep and creep because this is the fee that's going to cover the costs of cable TV obsolescence for the telecom companies. Cable TV subscriberships are drying up by the 10's of millions, lost revenue abound because of streaming services. The cable providers whom you use for internet but have cut the cord from their obsolete TV services will get their pound of flesh out of you if you want to use their bandwidth to view competing content providers.
Every dollar you've saved by cord cutting, previewing or pirating will be yielded back to the telecom industry 10 fold when they are able to put a pay gateway in front of every bit of content you desire to see online.
THANKS OBAMA! Obviously this is your fault for insulting that thin skinned orange guy at that correspondent's dinner that one time.
