For possibly the first time since the FCC adopted Net Neutrality last year, an ISP has been caught red-handed breaking the law.1
T-Mobile is throttling video content from select websites as part of their new "Binge On" feature, and when confronted about it, T-Mobile's CEO lashed out at internet freedom activists, asking "Who the f*ck are you?" and "Who pays you?"2
It's clear T-Mobile has no shame about violating Net Neutrality. And if the FCC doesn't crack down, other companies are sure to follow their lead.
Here's what’s happening: Late last year, T-Mobile automatically enrolled all their users in a service they're calling Binge On, which allows users to watch video from certain select websites, like Netflix, without counting against their data cap.
The problem is that sites not enrolled in Binge On, like YouTube and Vimeo, not only count against the data cap but are being pushed onto a data slow lane, causing buffering and poor playback.3
This is a clear, systematic violation of the Net Neutrality rules we fought so hard for. And it's one of the first big tests of whether Net Neutrality will actually be enforced—or will exist only on paper.
We're launching an urgent push to demand the FCC take swift action to crack down on T-Mobile. Will you donate?
Thanks for taking action on this at a critical time.
David, Daniel, Kurt, Mark, Sara, Victoria, and the rest of the Demand Progress Team
Sources:
1. T-Mobile 'breaks' net neutrality rules with Binge On, BBC News, January 5, 2016
2. Twitter blows up after T-Mobile CEO drops anti-eff f-bomb, Wired, January 7, 2016
3. EFF Confirms: T-Mobile’s Binge On Optimization is Just Throttling, Applies Indiscriminately to All Video, Electronic Frontier Foundation, January 4, 2016
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