With the coroner officially declaring Net Neutrality dead back in June, (at least as far as the FCC is concerned), the average user is no longer protected from Internet throttling. ISP’s can now slow down consumers’ Internet access without restriction, meaning all users streaming Netflix or YouTube videos could suddenly find their Internet “throttled” by their ISP, impacting the speed of downloads or ability to watch in higher resolutions, to incentivize the paid prioritization models many are expecting.

In the new Internet age ushered in by Ajit Pai and the FCC, consumers are at a severe disadvantage, and ultimately at the mercy of their providers. Under the new rules, consumers could find  their favorite content – especially videos– slow to a crawl, as slow as your cell phone internet after you’ve “run out of data” for the month. Of course, ISPs will offer to fix that – for a price. Which seems unfair, since they are already charging consumers for their services.

While it has not happened yet, the potential for this type of reality is certainly possible as the repeal of net neutrality means ISPs are free to do whatever they wish with regards to our internet (and they don’t even owe us any explanations because it would be totally legal). Given this possibility, consumers need a way to balance the asymmetric relationship they now share with their service providers.