Class divisions on the American version of the internet just got another tier.
According to an article on arstechnica, tomorrow Comcast will be launching an "extreme high-speed" Internet tier in Minneapolis/St.Paul and Hudson Wisconsin. They're claiming speeds of up to 50mbps, with a 5mbps upload speed for about $150 for individuals and $200 for a business. Apparently the new tier is supposed to be aimed at primarily business or I assume heavy duty gamers. They claim that they'll be going nationwide in about 2-3 years and want to reach download speeds of 100Mbps. They're calling it wideband.
The management of the new network is what touches on Net Neutrality, in that it will be employing the same practices as what prompted the FCC investigation into blocking certain sites.
If you'll allow me to go into blog-triumphalism mode for a moment, I firmly believe the low barriers to entry and egalitarian nature of the internet were the single greatest development that allowed resistance against the Bush Administration. So let's not forget about Net Neutrality in the midst of the campaign season.
Via Kotaku.