Verizon is staunchly denying allegations that it has begun slowing down users’ speeds to cloud storage sites, in an apparent bid to deny access to sites like Netflix. If true, it would be a blatant violation of net neutrality, which holds that Internet service providers can’t give certain sites and services preferential treatment. Though net neutrality was dealt a devastatinglegal blow in January, it does still remain the law of the land.
After a federal court said last month that the government couldn’t prohibit Internet providers from slowing or blocking Web traffic, at least one ISP is being accused of taking advantage of the ruling. On Wednesday, a Texas man named David Raphael wrote on his blog that Verizon was intentionally throttling Netflix subscribers and other Internet users who rely on Amazon’s cloud computing service. Verizon quickly denied the complaint, saying it continues to treat all traffic equally. Raphael, a software engineer for the cloud-based security firm iScan Online, said he was first alerted to the problem on Jan. 26 when the president of his company complained of “major slowdowns” while using iScan remotely.