The FCC voted on Thursday to bring back net neutrality – a rule that was introduced during Obama’s term but repealed during Trump’s.
Net neutrality is the practice of treating every website equally. In its absence, many large websites often pay to get better speed which leaves smaller to struggle with network throttling.
ISPs are not happy with this news and a broadband lobbying group called USTelecom has decided to challenge this decision and take legal measures if needed.
On Thursday, The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to bring back net neutrality. This is a policy under which broadband internet companies will be required to treat all types of traffic and content equally.
Net Neutrality was introduced by the FCC in 2015 during Obama’s term. But just 2 years later, in 2017, when Trump took over, this rule was repealed. And now, almost 7 years later, net neutrality has been reinstated once again.
In the absence of net neutrality, ISPs like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast could discriminate between traffic.
Big organizations that could afford to shell out a few extra dollars would get access to “fast lanes” that boost their content delivery speed whereas regular websites would be left to struggle with slow pages. In some cases, access to these sites might be completely restricted.
This is not only unfair to small website owners but it also gives these companies tremendous power over what people get to see online. In theory, if they want they can literally shape opinions and influence the masses.
Hence, the FCC decided to change this dynamic by reclassifying ISPs as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act. This means that from now on, the FCC will have more control over how they work.
Speaking about this decision, Democratic FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said that the internet has quickly transformed from a want to a need.
‘Broadband is now an essential service. Essential services, the ones we count on in every aspect of modern life, have some basic oversight.’ – Jessica Rosenworcel
Offering an equal playing field to all internet companies isn’t the only goal behind reinstating this rule. The FCC also has the following aims:
Address bigger concerns like internet outages
Digital privacy
Preserving public and national security
Prevent ISPs from selling the data of their users or offering them to tech companies for training their AI models
Read more: FCC plans to stop video service providers from charging early termination fees
How Do The ISPs Feel About This Decision?
In the absence of federal laws for net neutrality, many states like California and Washington had created their own local laws. So now, the ISPs don’t see a point for a federal law.
Another major reason is that the FCC having control over them basically means the agency will also be able to control their pricing. Sure, they haven’t announced any plans for rate regulation now, but it doesn’t mean they can’t regulate them in the future.
They also feel that a move like this will discourage their initiatives to build high-speed networks, although research shows very little support for this claim.
Jonathan Spalter, the president of a broadband lobbying group, USTelecom also said that the FCC is trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
Broadband consumers have been enjoying the open internet for decades. Hence, the organization will challenge this decision and do everything in its power to overturn it, including taking legal measures.
How effective a legal measure would be remains a question. In the past whenever there has been a legal battle over this issue, the courts have always supported the FCC, saying it has the right to regulate ISPs as it sees fit under the powers vested in it through the Communications Act of 1934.
ISP providers aren’t the only ones against this decision. Republican lawmakers are also against bringing back net neutrality. A letter was sent to Ms. Rosenworcel this week where many Republican lawmakers said that the internet cannot be controlled like a utility. Doing so will stifle the growth of the telecommunications industry.
However, on the flip side, many agencies and organizations, such as consumer and free speech groups have welcomed this decision.
Tech companies like Google, Netflix, and a few other online platforms also said that broadband companies often slowed down their sites or restricted access to their platform in exchange for financial incentives. With the reinstatement of net neutrality, though, this problem will go away.
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