Net neutrality complaint to be filed against AT&T for blocking FaceTime on all but shared data plans
If you didn't see this coming, you haven't been paying attention. After AT&T explained how blocking FaceTime wasn't a violation of Net Neutrality because "pre-loaded" apps are excluded and apparently WiFi counts as part of the equation, some consumer groups are coming together to challenge AT&T's assertion.
Free Press, Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute have announced an intent to file a complaint with the FCC. Note they haven't filed it yet -- this is sort of a warning shot across the bow. I doubt AT&T will budge, but we'll have to wait a while to see what the FCC decides, too.
AT&T does allow FaceTime over cellular if you are on a shared data plan. I am not, so I plan to use FaceTime with my AT&T iPhone 5 by connecting to my Verizon iPad 3, which will be used as a WiFi hotspot. I'm not really concerned about the ability of my primary carrier to build up a network that can handle the technology it has decided to deploy to its customers -- I just want to FaceTime with my son when he's at his mom's house. I'm guessing a lot of customers want their tech to "just work" as well.
