In a landmark decision on Dec 14, the FCC repealed Net Neutrality laws which came into force under the Obama administration. The move was in the offing ever since Ajit Pai was appointed the FCC’s chairman earlier this year. Pai, a staunch Net Neutrality opponent, has always maintained that consumers would be worse off under Net Neutrality and should expect their bills to go up along with slower broadband speeds.

The move is expected to significantly impact individual consumers with several interest groups organizing demonstrations against such a move. Interestingly enough, major Internet powers such as Facebook Inc. (FB – Free Report) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL – Free Report) , which have been long term advocates for Net Neutrality, issued only muted protests on this occasion.It seems that though you may be worried about your Netflix, Inc. (NFLX – Free Report) account stalling in such a scenario, the streaming giant may emerge virtually unscathed.

ISPs Emerge as Big Winners

Cheering the move to end Net Neutrality rules were the likes of AT&T Inc. (T – Free Report) , Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ – Free Report) , Comcast Corp. (CMCSA – Free Report) and Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR – Free Report) . This is because ISPs are expected to hugely benefit in the post Net Neutrality era. They will now be able to implement discriminatory pricing for utilizing different parts of the Internet.

Further, they will be able to indulge in data traffic blocking and traffic slowdowns. Paid prioritization is also likely to become a common practice. This is a method through which content developers strike deals with ISPs for fast and smooth transmission of their data traffic.

Why Has Netflix Issued Muted Protests?

In the past, major Internet companies such as Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN – Free Report) have been vocal supporters of the Obama era Net Neutrality rules. However, reactions from these quarters have been extremely muted on this occasion with the likes of Netflix choosing to comment only when the rollback finally happened. And yet only three years ago, it was the poster boy for Netflix champions.