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Chapter 3: Networks Issue: Who Will Control the Internet? Book Title: New Perspectives on Computer Concepts, 2018, Comprehensive Printed By: Michael Myers ([email protected]) © 2018 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

Issue: Who Will Control the Internet? It all started in October 2007, when the FCC accused Comcast of slowing and in some cases blocking Internet traffic from BitTorrent. Comcast claimed that it was attempting to even the playing field for the average Internet user whose online speeds were languishing due to file sharing traffic from a minority of its customers.

Comcast’s ability to adjust some users’ bandwidth for the benefit of other users might seem beneficial until you consider that ISPs could manipulate Internet speeds to give preferential access to certain sites and services while slowing access to others. That practice could essentially give ISPs the power to deny access to sites based on business, political, or other values.

Today’s action at the FCC could begin the dismantling of the open Internet as we know it…

Senator Edward J. Markey

What if your ISP institutes a system whereby you have to pay extra for high-bandwidth services, such as movie downloads? You might be thinking, “There ought to be a law against that!” That is exactly the opinion of net neutrality supporters.

The term net neutrality was created by Columbia media law professor Tim Wu in a 2003 paper Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination. Although the term net neutrality is relatively new, its roots can be traced to pre-1860 telegram technology. Back then, standard telegrams were routed equally, without discrimination, and without regard to their contents, source, or recipient. Telegraphs were end-to-end neutral networks. Because telegraph and —later—telephone networks were considered to be public utilities, or common carriers, they were not allowed to give preferential treatment to one customer over another. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was formed to regulate common carriers and ensure equal access and fair prices.

As the Internet evolved into a massive communication network, the FCC began to regard it as a common carrier that should fall under the FCC’s umbrella of influence. The first step would be to ban ISPs from slowing or blocking traffic indiscriminately. In 2010, under the banner of net neutrality, the FCC issued the Open Internet Order, a set of regulations designed to “preserve the Internet as an open platform enabling consumer choice, freedom of expression, end-user control, competition, and the freedom to innovate without permission.”

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Shortly after the Open Internet Order, Comcast was back in court again to contest the FCC’s right to regulate the Internet. The court ruled in favor of Comcast, based on the fact that the FCC’s jurisdiction did not extend to the Internet.

Yet the FCC persisted. In 2014, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler proposed a compromise form of net neutrality that would allow ISPs to offer “faster lane” options at a premium rate to content providers such as Netflix, Facebook, and Amazon. That proposal absolutely confused the issue; the FCC’s proposed version of net neutrality was not neutral at all.

Opponents to this new non-neutral neutrality pointed out that considering the finite amount of bandwidth available on the Internet, users outside the proposed “faster lanes” would have their bandwidth squeezed while the added cost of fast lane services would be passed directly on to the consumers of such services.

Additionally, opponents of this idea feared that the operational costs for fast-lane services would skyrocket and those costs would pose barriers to startups that operate on small budgets—thus, stifling innovation and competition. The FCC’s “faster lanes” brand of net neutrality satisfied no one.

The net neutrality controversy boils down to simple ideology: Should the government regulate the Internet or not? On the one hand, regulation could prevent abusive business practices on the part of ISPs. On the other hand, if the Internet were to fall under the regulatory control of the FCC, where would the regulation end? The FCC currently regulates telephone and cellular service. It imposes a variety of taxes and fees that add to your monthly bill. Would similar taxes and fees be added to your monthly Internet service? And would FCC Internet monitoring add yet more points where the government can collect data on the activities of its citizens?

Try It!

Net neutrality has become a political issue, and organizations with vested interests add to the confusion with misleading ads. Here’s a chance for you to explore the current status of net neutrality and to read arguments both for and against regulating ISPs.

1. What is the current status of net neutrality regulation? Connect to the InfoWorld Net Neutrality page www.infoworld.com/t/net-neutrality to find recent articles on this topic.

2. Take a look at your monthly cell phone or land line bill. Locate the amount you pay for taxes and fees. How much do you pay in taxes and fees annually?

3. Go to the FCC Web site and read the Communications Act of 1934 transition.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf. Does the wording in this act appear to apply to the Internet? Why or why not?

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4. Many ISPs and media companies have published written statements about their stance on net neutrality. What do you guess are the positions of Amazon, Mozilla, Netflix, Comcast, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation? Find the net neutrality statements of these companies online. Do they take the positions you expected? Why or why not?

5. In 2016, a U.S. federal court of appeals handed down a controversial net neutrality decision. The case involved a dispute between the United States Telecom Association and the FCC’s Open Internet Order. What three practices does the Open Internet Order prohibit? Did the court rule in favor of this order or against it?

6. Search online for the article Open vs. Closed: What kind of internet do we want? What is the difference between an open Internet and a closed Internet? How does that difference relate to net neutrality?

Source: 2015 politicalLoudMouth.com

Issue

What Do You Think?

1. Do you support the idea that Internet traffic should flow freely?

2. Do you believe that the U.S. government should regulate the Internet as a common carrier?

http://politicalloudmouth.com/

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3. Were you aware of the net neutrality controversy?

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