This means users must all be treated the same, and providers may not discriminate by blocking access or slowing data speeds to certain users.
The new law prohibits internet providers from blocking or slowing data based on content or from favoring websites or video streams from companies that pay extra.
While 40% of the workforce being affected by H1N1 may seem ludicrous, the government agency suggests precautions, like slowing data transfers in order to fuel financial markets and security networks, may be necessary if such a scenario were to happen.
Without net neutrality rules in place, Internet Service Providers are effectively free to discriminate in favor of their preferred content providers and/or their customers, slowing data speeds for some while speeding them up for others.
But the policy was thrust into the spotlight this week, when the Federal Trade Commission sued the telecom giant for slowing data speeds, sometimes by more than 90percentt, for unlimited data customers without "adequately disclos[ing]" the policy.
Slowing data periodically won't be the only precaution Verizon implements to keep the network running smoothly: the same memo reports that the company will utilize "optimization" techniques including "caching less data, using less capacity, and sizing the video more appropriately for the device".
