Net neutrality dies at 2 years old

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted Thursday to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Act and replace it with the new Restoring Internet Freedom Act. The new act classifies broadband services as Title I information services and eliminates the so-called bright line rules that prohibit Internet service providers from blocking, throttling or prioritizing traffic by paying for it.

The agency eliminated so-called net neutrality rules that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher quality service or certain content. The federal government also no longer treats high-speed Internet delivery as a public utility like telephone service. While the decision was expected, it also sparked an uproar among supporters of net neutrality, who argued that the regulatory reversal was against the public interest and would lead to a surge in paid content on the Internet.

In repealing net neutrality, FCC Chairman Pai Ajit noted that the Internet does not require public utility regulation and that early open internet laws had led to reduced broadband investment. He also asserted that the FTC is the proper agency to protect consumers from unfair and anticompetitive practices online, and that it will now once again be able to classify ISPs under Title I.

It will take weeks for the law to take effect, and consumers won’t see any potential changes for a while. But the political and legal battle over net neutrality has already begun, with many Democrats in the United States calling for a bill to rewrite the rules and several senior Democratic officials saying they will file a lawsuit to block the new law.

Several public interest groups, including Public Knowledge and the National Hispanic Media Coalition, have also pledged to file lawsuits, and the Internet Association, which represents big tech companies like Google and Facebook, said it was also considering legal action.

The repeal of net neutrality rules is the most significant and controversial action in federal court during the 11-month tenure of FCC Chairman Ayit Pai, who has already increased restrictions on the media, loosened the standards for broadband providers to charge users and cut low-income broadband plans for carriers nationwide.

Despite the uproar, it's unclear how much will ultimately change for internet users. Major telecom companies like AT&T and Comcast, as well as the industry's two main trade groups, have promised consumers that their online experience will not change.

What is Net Neutrality

Net neutrality, also known as Internet neutrality, is a principle that requires Internet service providers and governments to treat all data on the Internet equally, without discriminating or charging different users, content, websites, platforms, applications, access device types or communication modes.

Supporters of net neutrality believe that net neutrality can better control data, safeguard digital rights and freedoms, protect corporate competition and innovation, maintain Internet standards, prevent counterfeit services and adhere to end-to-end principles.

Net neutrality rules give the FCC the power to go after companies for business practices that aren't explicitly prohibited. For example, the Obama FCC said AT&T violated net neutrality with its "zero-rating" practice. The telecom giant exempted its own video app from cellphone data caps, which would save some consumers money while video competitors could pay the same. Pai's FCC had strongly supported AT&T before it began rolling out a plan to completely roll back net neutrality rules.

Opponents of network neutrality believe that network neutrality reduces innovation and investment, unbalances server-side neutrality, reduces broadband infrastructure, intensifies competition among broadband providers, and imposes high barriers to entry for wired broadband.

Net neutrality supporters argue that removing the rules makes it harder for the government to crack down on internet providers that work against consumer interests and will hurt innovation in the long run, while critics of the rules argue that removing them would be good for investment in broadband networks.