The principle behind the phrase “net neutrality” is that internet service providers of all kinds should treat data flowing over the open internet equally, without giving preferential treatment to data from one provider or platform. On Tuesday, however, the Federal Communications Commission’s rules governing that kind of behavior were struck down by an appeals court in Washington, D.C. — as reported by Gigaom’s Jeff Roberts — in a case launched by Verizon. This decision — if it remains unchallenged — raises the possibility that large internet service providers could charge certain companies extra for delivering their content to subscribers, and give preference to the content coming from those who are willing pay them a fee, or have cut some other kind of deal. In effect, the democratized nature of the internet would be replaced by a feudal system in which the ability to reach a consumer would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. As a Bloomberg article described it: “Proponents, including Web companies, say regulations are needed to keep Internet-service providers from interfering with rival video and other services. Those companies don’t pay today for what’s known as last-mile Web content delivery. The FCC has said that without rules, Internet providers could favor wealthier, established players at the expense of startups, squelching innovation.” In a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” discussion with Josh Levy of Free Press, law professor and former Obama administration advisor Susan Crawford said the impact of the court decision could be significant and that “high speed internet access is far too important as an essential infrastructure input to our national economy, and to our civic, social, and personal well-being, to leave it solely to a failed market, with no government oversight or fundamental rules of the road.” A web with tiers for the wealthy Craig Aaron, who runs an open internet advocacy group called Free Press, said in a statement that as a result of the ruling, “Internet users will be pitted against the biggest phone and cable companies — and in the absence of any oversight, these companies can now block and discriminate against their customers’ communications at will… the biggest broadband providers will race to turn the open and vibrant Web into something that looks like cable TV. They’ll establish fast lanes for the few giant companies that can afford to pay exorbitant tolls and reserve the slow lanes for everyone else.” In an analysis piece he wrote for Medium, former Wired “Threat Level” editor Ryan Singel detailed the risks in this way: “If your cable company now wants to slow down Netflix, it can. If it wants to make Skype calls slow, it can. If it wants to make streaming video from its services lightning fast and free from data caps, while slowing down YouTube and counting that data against your monthly allotment, it can do so.” Tim Wu, who more or less coined the term “network neutrality” in a paper he wrote in 2003 while he was a professor at Columbia Law School, explained why internet users should care about the principle in a piece he wrote for Salon in 2006, comparing it to a future in which those with certain cars would get preferential treatment on the highway: “You might buy a Pontiac instead of a Toyota to get the rush-hour lane, not because the Pontiac is actually a good car. As a result, the nature of competition among car-makers would change. Rather than try to make the best product, they would battle to make deals with highways.” In an interview with the Washington Post‘s Switch blog, Wu said that the decision leaves the internet “in completely uncharted territory. There’s never been a situation where providers can block whatever they want.” In an opinion piece for The Guardian, author and open-internet advocate Dan Gillmor said that the potential future for consumers is bleak if providers like Verizon get to offer deals to specific content providers. As he described it: “You and I are the chief losers, because we will pay more and get less than we would have in a more competitive world where we, not the central authorities, make the key decisions about the services and media we want. We won’t know what innovation doesn’t happen, because it won’t be around.” -full article and source in comments
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 06:35:43 +0000
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