President Obama has taken a stand this week, urging the the Federal Communications Commission to place tighter regulations on broadband service in an effort to keep the internet "free and open" to all users. The POTUS' move to join the fight for net neutrality and pressure the FCC comes as the years-long debate over the issue has picked up steam in recent months with the FCC - an independent regulatory body - nearing a decision on whether Internet Service Providers should be able to cut deals with sites. ISP's have subsequently grown increasingly eager to position themselves to control speed or accessibility according to each content providers' ability to pay for "fast-lane access." The President has sided with consumer activists and companies fearful of those increasing costs and lagging download speeds. The ACLU explains the crux of the problem on their website:
The Internet has become so much a part of the lives of most Americans that it is easy to imagine that it will always remain the free and open medium it is now. We'd like to believe it will remain a place where you can always access any lawful content you want, and where the folks delivering that content can't play favorites because they disagree with the message being delivered or want to charge more money for faster delivery.But there are no such guarantees.
If the government doesn't act soon, this open internet — and the "network neutrality" principles that sustain it — could be a thing of the past. Profits and corporate disfavor of controversial viewpoints or competing services could change both what you can see on the Internet and the quality of your connection. And the need to monitor what you do online in order to play favorites means even more consumer privacy invasions piled on top of the NSA's prying eyes.
President Obama has requested that the FCC “reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.” The Title II policy being championed by the president and other proponents of net neutrality is explained in a May 2014 article from The Daily Dot:
Title II includes more than 100 pages of regulations that common carriers must follow to ensure they act “in the public interest.” Section 706 is two paragraphs long.Section 706 would give the FCC the authority to regulate ISPs to “promote competition in the local telecommunications market” and “remove barriers to infrastructure investment,” but it’s not totally clear how that would allow the commission to safeguard net neutrality.
With Title II, the second subsection (202) clearly states that common carriers can’t “make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services.” From this language, it’s a bit easier to see how Title II connects to net neutrality.
“Under Title II, the FCC would be free to create blanket rules that prohibit problematic discrimination,” Michael Weinberg, vice president of Public Knowledge, told the Daily Dot in an email.
President Obama's request stipulates that regulations be put into place to ensure that ISP's treat all data equally. The plan, which should be "fully applicable to mobile broadband" services, would prohibit blocking, throttling and paid prioritization while increasing transparency.
The president's move to support net neutrality has been opposed by the nation's largest cable providers and some Republicans, who consider the plan "government overreach" and state that it would kill jobs. Republican Senator Ted Cruz reportedly referred to net neutrality as "Obamacare for the internet," noting that "The Internet should not operate at the speed of government." Cruz failed to note, however, that the internet should not exist to impede innovation. That is precisely what could happen if cable giants and corporate sympathizers are left to their own devices.
The contentious national argument over net neutrality pervades even as startups and other smaller businesses face the prospect of being placed at the back of the line without budgets large enough to pay "broadband gatekeepers" for the prime real estate necessary to ensure their survival and protect a diverse selection of content across the web. A report from the Associated Press suggests that while the FCC is leaning toward a more "hybrid approach", proponents of net neutrality are hopeful that the president's support for the issue will ultimately give them the upper hand:
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a former industry lobbyist and venture capitalist, has said he is open to using a "hybrid" approach that would draw from both Title II of the 1934 law and the 1996 Telecommunications Act. On Monday, Wheeler said he welcomed the president's comments, but suggested that his proposal was easier said than done."The more deeply we examined the issues around the various legal options, the more it has become plain that there is more work to do," Wheeler said. "The reclassification and hybrid approaches before us raise substantive legal questions. We found we would need more time to examine these to ensure that whatever approach is taken, it can withstand any legal challenges it may face."
The FCC isn't under a deadline to make a decision.
The president's statement all but guarantees that the major cable companies will spend the next few months trying to encourage Congress to step in to protect their interests. Still, Internet activists are hoping that Obama's position will go a long way, even as his popularity among his party has waned.
"When the leader of the free world says the Internet should remain free, that's a game changer," said Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
Learn more about net neutrality and the fight to keep the internet free for all citizens via aclu.org. Sign the petition to protect net neutrality at barackobama.com. Stay woke.
