net neutrality

Rest in peace, net neutrality

chathamcommunique

Net neutrality is dead and Tom Wheeler killed it.

Since 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been in proceedings to discuss the issue of network neutrality–the principle that Internet Service Providers must treat all electronic data equally, without discrimination or different charges based on user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, and modes of communication.

Corporations involved in the issue tend to lean towards the side of internet fast lanes–charging users more to use certain sites–and other methods of restricting the internet in violation of current net neutrality doctrine, which is covered by common carrier regulations.

Common carrier regulations are a previous FCC ruling that forced phone companies to treat all calls equally or without preference. Until September 10, 2014, communications providers were forced to treat the internet under common carrier regulations.

As the FCC has struck down prior rulings–one as recent as last year (“Verizon Communications, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission”)–on net neutrality with this new decision, drastic changes may be coming. The internet, predictably, did not respond well to the news of these happenings.

Over the course of the last year, internet users have broken the FCC website twice with the sheer volume of complaints filed on the subject of net neutrality.  Figures as recent as September 10 put the number of complaints in the area of 3.7 million.

Due to the volume of complaints, the original comment period of five months that the FCC had opened had to be extended for over a week due to server latency issues.  On September 10, over 220,000 complaints were registered on the site over the course of the day. The average number of calls to the FCC during the Day of Action was around 1,000 calls per minute.

Contributing actions in favor of continued net neutrality and the volume of complaints issued to the FCC were internet-wide blackouts and server slow-downs by various sites, including Tumblr, Netflix, Reddit, and other sources–including a widely viewed segment by John Oliver from “Last Week Tonight.”

One of the possible outcomes from this decision is that last year’s victory over Comcast–in which the company’s merger with Time Warner was only approved if they agreed to maintain net neutrality until 2018–may no longer be enforceable.

Comcast has since joined Team Cable, which comprises of Verizon, Time Warner, and AT&T; coincidentally, these are some of the most reviled companies in the United States.

However, this may not be the outcome as there does exist the grandfather clause in their original agreement on the Comcast-Time Warner merger wherein they will have to protect network neutrality for their users until 2018, barring renegotiation with the FCC.

Despite the rulings and possible outcomes of the rulings, organizations like Free Press and Battle for the Net are still running active campaigns and organizing petitions to keep the net neutral. Battle for the Net currently hosts downloadable code to make an artificial slowdown on websites and blogs, with links to more information.

It is still possible to crash the FCC servers and tie up their phone lines to express your displeasure with their ruling on net neutrality.

For Internet complaints, visit www.fcc.gov/comments.

For phone complaints, call 1-888-225-5322 or 1-888-835-5322.

 

The internet is dead… and Verizon killed it

Admin

The title is not a joke.

If Verizon has its way, a recent ruling by the United States Court of Appeals could give Verizon – and other internet providers like Comcast and AT&T – the power to shut down or restrict access to the internet.  The internet is dead and Verizon killed it.

Just a few weeks ago, on January 14, the federal Court of Appeals struck down a prior ruling by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that had, in the past, been used to protect the neutrality of the internet and the rights of users to freely access any information therein.  The case in question – Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission – ended with the court striking down the FCC’s protections on the internet.  The FCC had previously ruled that the internet was protected under a “common carrier” rule (a ruling that forces phone companies like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile to treat all calls equally without preference) that prevented internet service providers (ISPs) from slowing down data.

If the ruling stands, ISPs will be able to pick and choose what traffic can travel over their servers, and what their customers’ speeds will be during internet usage.  If a customer wants faster speeds for certain services, it is very likely that they will be forced to pay extra or simply go without.  This ruling destroys what was once a level playing field where a single consumer would get the same treatment as a major corporation.

What will this mean for those affected?

In the beginning, it probably won’t mean much.  Comcast has publically, and rather grudgingly, stated that it will maintain net neutrality until 2018.  They are only upholding net neutrality for another four years due to FCC guidelines that they agreed to during their acquisition of NBC two years ago in 2012.  Other companies not bound by similar guidelines and contracts, such as Verizon and AT&T, may start using the newfound lack of restrictions and adequate guidelines to strip internet services from paying customers as soon as possible.

Services once freely enjoyed on the open internet could, in the near future, disappear include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even the Chatham e-mail service, which is a part of Microsoft Online.   If these services don’t disappear from the ‘net for good, it is also very likely that they will be rolled into packages that ISPs can charge their customers for on top of monthly internet access fees.

Despite the rather bleak outlook for everything but library card catalogues, there is growing resistance to the idea of losing fair access to the internet.  While there is skepticism that online petitions work, there are numerous iterations of petitions currently available, urging the FCC to challenge the decision of the appeals court.  The petition with the current largest number of signatures is hosted on whitehouse.gov, urging President Obama to take a stance on the issue in favor of the consumer instead of the corporations.  At the time of this writing, the article has over 104000 signatures and is still open for responses from more interested parties.

The internet is dead. Long live the internet.