The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday formally voted to restore net neutrality, passing an order titled Protection and Security of the Open Internet. It restores rules passed in 2015 with some changes and protections, allowing the FCC to enforce basic connectivity and fairness rules in broadband.
More or less since the FCC announced in September that it would pursue this as a policy goal. Fait accompliThat’s because the committee, which was split 3-2 with Democrats, had no real reason to vote against it. So while Thursday is important, it’s just another milestone on the road ahead.
Just like ten years ago, the usual old canards have been eliminated. Coercive regulation, rate regulation, hiding innovation, etc. are generalizations that don’t really matter that much. As Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel points out, the FCC already applies rules with this authority in other areas (Title II, for those who have been with us from the beginning). ), they are not overcome by strict rules or restrictions. .
Instead, she points to pointless inconsistencies in management over the past few years. For example, last year the FCC stripped some wireless providers affiliated with Chinese state agencies of their ability to operate in the United States.
“But it’s important to understand that because of the last FCC effort, our actions did not extend to broadband,” she said in her remarks at the conference. “Our national security officials have detailed accounts of how China’s state-run carriers and others exploited insecure internet routing protocols to hijack our nation’s internet traffic. By stepping back, when we were asked to do something about it, the best we could offer was a forum in a committee room. I don’t think so.”
However, the United States is not the only country confronting China. There are domestic issues that need to be resolved as well. The FCC recently redefined broadband as 100 megabits upstream and 25 megabits downstream. In the morning, I received an email from Xfinity letting me know that the changes had taken effect and my speeds had magically been updated for free. That’s generous, right? Of course, if the FCC hadn’t done that, I would have been paying more for the lowest speeds that the FCC seemed to be able to avoid.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Zero-rating also does not count certain services, such as streaming platforms, that are owned or affiliated with your internet provider against your bandwidth cap. If we don’t nip these in the bud, we’ll end up with a ton of bad bundles between kind-hearted companies – and as most of our TV is now via streaming, it’s becoming more and more common in home broadband. It has become more important than ever. What’s standing between you and the Cox Gigabit Plus exclusive on the next season of ‘Bridgerton’? Come on, FCC.
Rosenworcel summed it up best. “In today’s digital economy, I think we should have a national net neutrality policy and be clear that our national communications experts have the ability to act on broadband.” That’s really all there is to it.
Ever wonder why it took so long? Senate Republicans blocked the nomination of a fifth director for years, preventing the agency from doing its actual work. Net neutrality proposals emerged within weeks when Anna Gomez was finally confirmed.
Of course, as I recently pointed out, the new net neutrality rules are far from secure. They will have to survive court challenges and, depending on the outcome of the election, could simply be repealed or legally repealed. On the other hand, under a friendly administration, these rules could be enacted into law within the next term.
Rosenworcel specifically cited California’s own net neutrality rules as an example of what happens when federal authorities cannot be trusted. While she clearly appreciates California’s legislative position, there could be issues to resolve if the two rules conflict with each other. But establishing national rules as a basic level of protection, as is done in many other industries, seems like the bare minimum.
It will take some time for the regulations to go into effect, as they must first be published in the Federal Register and then there is an additional waiting period. But you probably won’t notice when they happen. Companies that were trying to, or did, disrupt broadband traffic quickly realized it wasn’t worth the risk due to consumer backlash and, ultimately, federal protection. They knew this rule was likely coming and have more or less been on the best course of action. Plus, it gave them an excuse to say, “Anti-consumer practices, what anti-consumer practices?” We hadn’t done anything like that in years! ” Don’t believe me.
If you are still curious about what the new rules are, please refer to the following link: Here is a nice information page (I learned) and a video of the chairman explaining it.
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