(Bloomberg) Your Netflix bill might rise. You may have to switch Internet providers to get faster YouTube videos. Or, you may miss out on the next big thing on the Web.
Those are some of the concerns that consumer advocates are raising about U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler’s proposal this week for new rules for Internet traffic. The worry is that the changes would force consumers to pay higher fees to access certain kinds of information.
The guidelines would let broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. charge content companies additional fees for preferential, faster routes to people in their homes. For example, Hulu LLC could pay to have faster streaming of the latest episode of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.” The FCC is finding itself in the middle of an intensifying argument between the creators and distributors over how Internet traffic is managed and paid for. Caught in the middle are the consumers.
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