If you've been on the Internet at all in this last year, you've probably at least heard of the term "net neutrality". It's been an on-going issue for a while now, with people on one side demanding rules be introduced to stop ISPs in America from controlling net traffic as they see fit, while the ISPs have been trying to stop legislation by appealing to the side of the argument that the Internet is a free area and shouldn't be regulated.
Today the issue was finally brought to a vote by the Federal Communications Commission and the vote was 3-2 in favour of the rules to be introduced to stop ISPs introducing a 'fast lane' to those sites that pay by throttling the download speeds of other sites. If you're a content creator online, this is very good news and exactly what most people who spend a lot of time online for their entertainment were hoping for.
The Internet is now to be considered a utility in the same way as telephones, and so the ISPs are now to be regulated to be sure that they're not unfairly favouring or cutting off anyone. The ISPs and the Republican Party were opposed to this saying that such a move would cause higher payment rates for Internet users as well as strangling innovation and investment, favouring a law instead that would forbid ISPs from deliberately blocking or slowing down specific content.
While it's a victory today, there's always a chance the ISPs could take the decision to court to attempt to get it thrown out. Celebrate but don't think that it's properly over, not until its confirmed that everyone will let this decision stand.