The FCC tried to guarantee Net Neutrality by making the Internet a public utility. But thanks to a ruling last month by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the FCC failed.
The FCC and Internet regulation has a long history. Way back in 2002 (yes, that’s a long time ago in “e-terms”), the FCC ruled that Internet services were “information services” and not “telecommunications services”. That meant the Internet couldn’t be regulated like a phone company. It was not, in other words, a public utility.
But in 2012, the FCC, under the leadership of Obama appointee Julius Genachowski, decided to regulate broadband carriers by partially classifying them as “common carriers” under Title 2 of the Telecommunications Act.
As you can imagine, the cable and wireless companies were not happy. They rattled their sabers. The FCC backed down. But the agency did issue a 5-point plan to protect Internet freedom and openness:
- meaningful transparency;
- a ban on blocking lawful apps and services;
- a ban on unreasonable network management;
- an allowance for a certain amount of ISP network management; and
- rules governing wireless that calls for transparency and a basic no-blocking rule.
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The wireless industry responded by saying that any government regulation was bad for the evolution of their industry. And anyway, the FCC didn’t have that authority to begin with. The FCC continued with its attempt to change the classification of Internet providers, making them subject to more stringent public utility regulations.
Verizon stepped in and sued. Verizon won.
So what does this all mean for you and me? Depends on whom you ask. Some consumer advocates say that the ruling will allow big monopolies to take over the Internet. After all, who could compete with the deep pockets of Amazon.com, which is able to pay providers to speed traffic their way? Gone will be the days when every website, every e-business, every blog and video was equally accessible.
If you talk to Verizon or Comcast or AT&T or some of the other heavy players, you’ll hear a different story. Government regulation, they warn is always bad. Any attempt to regulate the Internet, even ostensibly to benefit consumers, will hamper innovation and investment. Net neutrality, they say, is a good engineering principle, but it shouldn’t be a legal mandate. A free market will always take care of any problems that might arise.
What does the FCC say? Go to http://www.fcc.gov/guides/open-internet and see for yourself. After all, this is supposed to be the era of open government, not just an open Internet.