On December 14, the FCC will vote on the repeal of Net Neutrality. Given the makeup of the Commission — three Republicans and two Democrats — the outcome is a certainty. Goodbye Net Neutrality.
The idea behind Net Neutrality is that Internet service providers are required to treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging different rates based on user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. Every website has equal footing. No website is favored; no website can be blocked.
Net Neutrality was formally established by the Obama administration which spearheaded the reclassification of broadband Internet access service as a “telecommunications service” under Title II of the Communications Act. This allowed the FCC to establish and enforce Net Neutrality rules, prohibiting broadband providers from blocking, throttling, and prioritizing paid “fast lanes.”
Current FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who served as a Verizon lawyer before becoming FCC Commissioner, insists that the federal government should not be micromanaging the Internet. “Instead, the FCC would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate,” Pai said.
The circulation of blood is not generated enough to reach the blood vessels of sildenafil professional penis. You need to purchase levitra cheapest from reputable pharmacy for good prices and purity of the medicine. The fear of hard pill swallowing kept them deprived of viagra the pill the treatment. In case of severe side effects and priapism, one should call their healthcare advisor right away for a number of off-label uses. ordine cialis on line Pai fails to note that in most communities consumers have little choice in ISPs. Gone are the days when there were literally thousands of independent ISPs across the country. Today, most areas are served by Comcast, AT&T, or Verizon. That’s it.
Consumer advocates and major online tech companies, such as Google and Facebook, have commented that the repeal of Net Neutrality would allow those behemoth telecom companies to play favorites by charging customers for accessing some sites or by slowing speed to others. The ISPs have all denied that they would engage in such dastardly practices, but it should be noted that Comcast deleted its Net Neutrality pledge the same day the FCC announced its plan to eliminate Net Neutrality rules.
Of course, this is far from the end of the story. Consumer action groups are already mounting protest movements. And it is likely that suits will be filed in Federal court to block the FCC action. It is also possible, although unlikely given the current dysfunction on Capitol Hill, that Congress could make Net Neutrality the law of the land.
One cannot help seeing the irony of the situation. In 2015, Congress made Internet Tax Freedom permanent because access to information on the Internet is vital to national security and interests. By eliminating the extra burden of an Internet tax, Congress hoped to make Internet access more affordable to all Americans. With the elimination of Net Neutrality, the FCC will undoubtedly make the Internet more expensive for everyone while eliminating the unimpeded access to information that Congress deemed so necessary.