UK gov't promises to allow telcos to hold Brits hostage on "two-speed" Internet

Boing Boing reports:

"So much for any hope that a Conservative-LibDem coalition would signal a beginning to sane network/information policy in Britain. Ed Vaizey, the new Minister of Culture, has given the go-ahead for a "two-speed," non-neutral Internet, in which your capacity to access a website or service would depend on whether that service had bribed your ISP.

In this model, ISPs could slow down traffic from the sites you love if they don't pay for "premium access" to you — essentially turning you into a hostage that gets traded around like a prisoner being swapped for a couple packs of cigarettes.

So, Vaizey, what next? I can call any takeaway restaurant I want, but unless they've given a backhander to my phone company, I'll have to wait an extra 30 seconds to be connected, while an announcement offers to put me through to a competitor who's paid the "premium" danegeld?"

Full article at Boing Boing