I find it funny that many see issues with the infringement of net neutrality further down the road. I believe that these days have already arrived, and this is going to be a never ending struggle. Rheingold discusses how the original internet architect's intent was to create a network that connected networks together... a fully distributed system.
However, today, governments and internet service providers are desiring more and more control over their internet users. ISP's are now utilizing a technique known as "deep packet inspection" which allows them to observe what types of data and data transfer are taking place with their customers. They can then use this knowledge in order to "throttle back" or even disable services that customers are using.
One of the largest targets of internet service providers are the peer-to-peer(P2P) networks, such as bitTorrent. This network allows users to send data to each other directly, rather than through a centralized server. This network is perfectly legal and can be used that way. However, many use the network to send a receive pirated material. The ISP's claim that this is the reason they specifically interrupt these networks. However, many speculate the real reason is that they do not approve of the required bandwidth of P2P networks. Similar "throttling back" has been seen for online game users as well.
Perhaps, the only thing that will protect the neutrality of the internet is legislation that mandates it. However, the very ones that want control over it would be the ones that legislate it. We're out of luck, I guess?
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