"The T-Mobile US Binge On video service does in fact break network neutrality and so is illegal.
That's according to Stanford law professor Barbara van Schewick, who has gone to the trouble of writing51 pages of analysis [PDF] over the controversial throttled service to reach her conclusion.
"Binge On undermines the core vision of net neutrality: Internet service providers (ISPs) that connect us to the Internet should not act as gatekeepers that pick winners and losers online by favoring some applications over others," argues the paper. "By exempting Binge On video from using customers' data plans, T-Mobile is favoring video from the providers it adds to Binge On over other video."
The paper then methodically goes through all the claims and counterclaims that have emerged in the past two months, dissecting each and reaching the clear conclusion that despite the company's efforts and tweaks, it does in fact break the law."