User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Battle for the Net: Internet Slowdown/@comment-24186365-20140910224846/@comment-25035274-20140910232622

To answer your question, Jacky, the assorted ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have multiple reasons for this push, but the one reason that ties all the others together is simple: Money.

Their intent is to force websites to pay exorbitant sums in order to maintain the bandwidth they currently have. Those who refuse to bow to the pressure will see their connections slowed drastically.

"How does this affect me," you may ask? Simple. Many of the websites you use will suddenly load much more slowly for you. This isn't restricted to simple page loads, however. You can expect everything from streaming media to program downloads to take a major hit.

So if you're a fan of YouTube? Expect to see that loading icon an awful lot while your videos keep having to buffer. The same goes for Netflix, which Verizon has ALREADY tried, and failed, to throttle back (while claiming, mind, that they were not throttling Netflix, which clever technicians were able to prove was a lie on Verizon's part).

You can expect that issue with much anything you download, if the website or service refuses to pay. If you need to update your antivirus, for example? Expect your download times to increase. And you can forget about downloading games using Steam or another similar client, should the owning company (Valve, in this example) choose not to pay.

Unfortunately, that could potentially be just the beginning of the issues. If the ISPs are able to successfully lobby for the changes they want the American Congress to push through to American law, it could also potentially lead to unfair business competition.

To provide an example that I've already mentioned: If Verizon were to release a video streaming service to compete against Netflix, and then stick Netflix in the 'slow lane', as it were, Verizon would naturally be given an unfair marketing advantage. Many people who didn't know what was going on would naturally assume that Netflix was the problem, and would be likely to go with Verizon's service.

Not only that, but the fall of Network Neutrality could also lead to things like data caps and limits on your home internet connection. And all of this? All of this is added on top of the already exorbitant prices Americans pay for their already sub-par internet service. '''By which I mean, Americans pay too much already (globally speaking) for internet service that is, by global standards, sub-standard.

TL/DL:

ISPs stand to make a lot of money if they hamper the Internet. That's why they 'would' slow down the Internet which, in turn, is why you should care.

If you don't like the idea of looking at a LOT of loading icons in the near future? I suggest you contact your Congressmen and tell them to get out of the ISPs' pockets, and start protecting Network Neutrality.