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{"id":36847,"date":"2017-04-12T20:49:32","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T01:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/?p=36847"},"modified":"2017-04-13T05:40:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T10:40:34","slug":"net-neutrality-round-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occasionalplanet.org\/2017\/04\/12\/net-neutrality-round-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Net Neutrality: Round Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
It looks like Trump-appointee Ajit Pai over at the FCC is setting his sights on unraveling regulations that guarantee net neutrality.<\/p>\n
This radical change would mark a reversal of strong net-neutrality protections put into place during the Obama administration by former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler. The history of how open Internet advocates won the first-round fight for net neutrality and defeated paid prioritization is revealing. After initial missteps in 2014, when Wheeler\u2019s proposal to allow companies like Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon to create pay-to-play fast lanes caused massive online protests and pushback from the tech industry, the future of the open Internet seemed assured. At the time, open-Internet advocates cheered Wheeler on when he reversed course and decided to base net-neutrality rules on Title II of the Communications Act of 1939.<\/p>\n
How times have changed. The Trump administration is engaged in a frenzied destruction of a host of Obama-era regulatory protections. It looks like net neutrality may be next on the list. It\u2019s been reported that FCC Chairman Pai has been huddling with telecom lobbyists representing AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile. These meetings and Pai\u2019s statements to the press seem to be signaling that the chairman is setting the stage for a policy shift that would favor the bottom line of the telecom giants over the interests of everyone else\u2014meaning the interests of every other sector in the economy. In lock step with the broadband industry, Pai has consistently stated his dissatisfaction with the Title II designation, which classifies broadband companies as utilities and subjects them to utility-like regulation.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Recode, an online tech blog, indicates that Pai may be considering voluntary compliance to ensure open access. Let\u2019s be honest. That\u2019s a joke by any objective standard. Pai needs to produce a single example of a corporate giant voluntarily deferring on potential profits as well as a commitment by the Trump administration to tough enforcement before voluntary compliance can be taken seriously. This is how Recode reports on the direction Pai may be considering:<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Pai\u2019s early blueprint, Internet providers could be encouraged to commit in writing that they won\u2019t slow down or block Internet traffic. If they break that promise, they could be penalized by another agency, the Federal Trade Commission, which can take action whenever companies deceive consumers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The issue of net neutrality is the fight that won\u2019t go away. After all, we now live in a world where literally everything<\/em> depends on affordable, open access to Internet service. The players and the stakes are high. The fight for open access pits the telecom giants in a struggle with the tech industry and the public at large.<\/p>\n
What is net neutrality and why does it inspire such passion? Net neutrality is the principle that the Internet should remain a level playing field for all users. Net neutrality preserves the rights of all users to communicate freely online, and net neutrality has been the engine for fostering a new and robust online marketplace.<\/p>\n
Who benefits from net neutrality? The answer is everyone and everything except the Internet service providers. Net neutrality fosters job growth, competition, and innovation. It\u2019s essential for small-business owners, online retailers, entrepreneurs, and startups, for online job sites, streaming entertainment providers, free-speech advocates, students, and political, social, and arts groups that lack access to mainstream media.<\/p>\n
When it passed rules to protect net neutrality, the Obama administration was hardly a radical outlier in understanding the economic, social, and political benefits of an open Internet. As you can see in the map below, the rest of the connected world understands as well\u2014the exceptions being Russia and China where suppression of free speech is the norm, and net neutrality threatens government control of political dissent.<\/p>\n