Net neutrality becomes the law of the land

Article: http://www.zdnet.com/article/net-neutrality-becomes-the-law-of-the-land/

According to the article, the Federal Communications Commission's board of commissioners today voted 3-2 on party lines to accept a recommendation from its Democratic chair, Tom Wheeler, to "use its Title II authority to implement and enforce open Internet protections" (to protect net neutrality through regulation). Net neutrality in the U.S. case here seen means that ISPs are treated as common carriers and public utilities, and cannot prejudice or reduce the speed of the delivery of certain content based on payment or non-payment of the content provider. Critics of net neutrality argue that large content providers, like Netflix and Google, need to pay for delivery of their content due to the massive strains they place on network infrastructure. Pro-neutrality campaigners argue that eliminating net neutrality would create a closed internet against its original purpose, with content censored or determined by content providers and microtransactions for content becoming commonplace, and creating a system where an unfair double payment is in effect required for accessing the internet. The three fundamentals of the proposal approved today include provisions that prevent ISPs from blocking access to content or services that are not harmful or illegal, impairing or degrading Internet traffic on a content basis, or favoring some traffic over others, including their own.

The move by the F.C.C. comes after a great amount of public and lobby pressure on both sides of the issue, with major figures like Google, Verizon, and Tim Berners-Lee testifying to the F.C.C. over the matter. Ultimately, this move, I believe, will enable the United States to continue to be competitive in digital innovation by classifying broadband as a public utility. ISPs already have an effective duopoly over the Internet at present (namely, AT&T and Verizon), and multiple state-level conflicts are open regarding their pricing and service practices. In such a high-barrier market (to the point where even high-capitalization Google has only limited in-roads despite intense demand for fiber connections due to cost prohibitions), protective regulation is critical of something as vital to the economy as the Internet. The F.C.C. regulation to enforce the open internet will enable small firms to continue innovating without paying content delivery fees beyond the extensive current costs of infrastructure and development, enabling the U.S. to remain competitive with technological developments against competitors abroad, as well as enabling the free flow of information from party to party through preventing its inhibition by ISPs, protecting more perfect information for markets and free expression.