Last Wednesday, a number of popular websites including Reddit, Netflix, and Twitter participated in Internet Slowdown Day, intentionally slowing down service on their platforms to protest the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) proposed draft of their new “open Internet” rules. The companies feel that the proposed regulations abandon the FCC’s former resolution to enforce net neutrality — leaving millions of Americans asking one question: “What is net neutrality again?”
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Let’s break down this wonky issue down.
What is net neturality?
Net neutrality is the principle that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally, and internet service provers (ISP) should give no preference to certain traffic over the others.
That sounds reasonable. So, why do libertarians and conservatives oppose it?
We oppose it because, quite frankly, not all traffic is created equal. In fact, treating traffic differently could be extremely beneficial for consumers. Netflix and YouTube account for half of all peak-hour download traffic in the United States, for example, often leading to slow buffering speeds. Remember how bad House of Cards lagged when its second season debuted? In a world without net neutrality, ISPs can strike deals with heavy bandwidth consumers for customers to gain faster access to their websites — a win for all parties involved.
Has the government ever tried to enforce net neutrality?
Yes. The FCC imposed an Open Internet Order in December 2010, requiring ISP’s to abide by net neutrality, but the order was struck down by the DC Circut Court of Appeals in January of this year. Here’s where it gets wonky. The FCC lost its case because the Open Internet order saddled many of the same regulations that other telecommunication services such as landlines have to abide by — what are called “common carriers” in tech policy lingo. The problem is that the Communications Act of 1934 expressly states that a “telecommunications carrier shall be treated as a common carrier… only to the extent that it is engaged in providing telecommunications services.” Since the internet is not a telephone or telegraph, the court ruled that it cannot be subject ISPs to the same regulations as the phone company, thereby ending net neutrality in the US.
So, is that what all this Internet Slowdown Day fuss is all about?
Yes. Since the court ruling, the FCC has proposed a new, modified Open Internet rule that it claims complies with the court ruling while enforcing some of the principles of net neutrality. In short, the proposed new rule allows for ISPs to strike deals with companies like Netflix to provide customers with faster streaming but simultaneously bans ISPs from slowing down service to other websites. So, ISPs can provide faster service than normal but not slower service.
Isn’t that still picking winners and losers?
That’s certainly the talking point that the Left is pushing, and it’s true to the extent that the proposed rule would not actually be net neutrality. However, enforcing a one-size-fits-all policy on an internet service market with ever-increasing customers is a recipe for regulatory disaster. ISPs should compete to provide their customers the fastest connection possible to their favorite websites, not be saddled down with government regulation. Sine when has government regulation made anything more efficient?
But, couldn’t a lack of net neutrality lead to ISPs charging customers more for the amount of data they use like cell phone plans?
Perhaps, but probably not. Most ISPs, like AT&T and Verizon, have already pledged not to since doing so would be wildly unpopular. Even if an ISP chose charge-by-data usage, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. In fact, it could be beneficial for people who barely use the Internet — like the elderly — by saving them money. Meanwhile, people who choose to stick to a single-price monthly plan with unlimited data would still have options with ISPs willing to provide the service. That’s how markets work, and that’s why the Internet has remained so cheap, deregulated, and awesome since its foundation. Indeed, if there’s one example in modern times that unquestionably proves that freedom works, it’s the World Wide Web.
That’s true, the Internet works pretty well as is.
Precisely, which is why the government shouldn’t try to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. Please sign the petition at www.StopInternetRegulation.org to send public comments to the FCC before the September 15th deadline.