Last week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted stricter net neutrality rules that will basically treat the internet like a public utility.
What’s in the new regulations? There are three major principles that internet service providers—like Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon—have to follow when sending data from their networks to your computer:
No blocking Internet service providers can’t prevent you from accessing “legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices” when you’re on the internet. This is intended to prevent censorship and discrimination of specific sites or services. Some open internet advocates worry the phrase “legal content” will create a loophole that might let internet providers block stuff they see as questionable on copyright grounds without a fair hearing.
No throttling Internet service providers can’t deliberately slow down data from applications or sites on the internet. That means, for instance, that a broadband company has to let all traffic flow equally, regardless of whether it’s coming from a competitor or a streaming video service like Netflix that uses a lot of data bandwidth.
No paid prioritization Internet service providers can’t charge content providers extra to bring their data to you faster. That means no internet “fast lanes,” because regulators fear they will lead to degraded service for anyone not willing to pay more.
If content providers or the networks that make up the internet complain about internet providers acting as gatekeepers for their users, the FCC says it will have the authority “to hear complaints and take appropriate enforcement action if necessary, if they determine the interconnection activities of ISPs are not just and reasonable.” It’s not clear yet what that will mean in practice.
Of course, this ruling could (and probably will) be challenged in the courts by the big broadband companies. But many internet advocates and stock investors are already shifting their focus to looming consolidation in America’s communications markets that could change the way Americans access the internet and consume video.
What Net Neutrality Means For Consumers? Has anything really changed?
1: It won’t make your home broadband connection faster
2: It won’t eliminate your Wireless data usage cap
3: It won’t stop your wireless carrier from throttling your service when you reached your data threshold
4: It won’t create competition
5: It won’t improve your Friday night Netflix viewing experience
6: It won’t stop the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger
So what will change as a result of these stricter regulations?
Nothing…. That’s the whole point. The Internet has always operated on this basic principle of openness, or Net neutrality. The decade long debate over how to implement Net Neutrality has really been a battle to make certain a level of openness is preserved. And the way to preserve it is by establishing rules of the road that let ISPs, consumers and innovators know what’s allowed and what’s not allowed on the Net.
The only things that do change are that the government now has its fingers in the pie and innovation will take a backseat to profit. The 2 worst possible outcomes for the internet and everyone involved.
See below what our local ISP’s have to say about this:
Verizon is not happy with the Title II regulations announcing their dissent on their blog with the heading “FCC’s Throwback Thursday Move Imposes 1930’s Rules on the Internet”. The remainder of the post was initially written and released in “Morse Code”: http://publicpolicy.verizon.com/blog/entry/fccs-throwback-thursday-move-imposes-1930s-rules-on-the-internet
Comcast’s public stand on Net Neutrality: http://corporate.comcast.com/openinternet?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=TWCMerger_NB_Natl_Exact&utm_term=net%20neutrality-73498182-VQ16-c&iq_id=73498182-VQ16-c
