Until recently, in typical network or content access settings, access providers (e.g., Internet service providers (“ISPs”), and the like) were bound by the concept of net-neutrality to avoid or prevent discrimination in terms of content delivery and content access on the Internet, as prescribed in the FCC's Open Internet rules. Under the FCC rules, consumers were not given options with regard to Internet and/or content access on the Internet. The core “anti-blocking” and “anti-discrimination” elements of the FCC's Open Internet rules, however, were recently struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Verizon v. FCC, Case No. 11-1355.
Consumers, in exchange for certain benefits (e.g., partial or full subsidies for broadband Internet services), may be willing to accept certain blocking or discrimination (in terms of restriction in access) during content or Internet access. However, such options have to date not been made available to the consumers. The underlying technologies and techniques for implementing such consumer-choice-based blocking or discrimination are likewise unavailable.
From 3rd party provider perspectives, ISPs and other access providers typically have not provided, and do not have, the underlying technologies for allowing 3rd party providers to control certain aspects of the ISPs' network, especially technologies that may enable 3rd party control for implementing such consumer-choice-based blocking or discrimination.
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for implementing application, service, and/or content access control, based at least in part on a consumer's choice of applications, services, content, and/or content providers.