Net neutrality decision

On December 14 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to repeal the net neutrality rules put in place by the Obama Administration. The news has put media outlets into a mass panic over what this means for consumers, and what it means for life on the web.

Net neutrality is the rule that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must not be biased towards any certain digital content providers. This essentially means that consumers can access all content, such as videos, pictures, gifs, and streaming websites, equally, regardless of who is providing it. Net neutrality basically makes for an open Internet and coins it as a public utility, like electricity and phone service companies.

The principle of net neutrality was first enforced in 2015 when the FCC,  under Title II Order of the 1934 Communications Act, voted to classify consumer broadband service as a public utility.

To the consumer, having net neutrality means an open internet and access to all information equally. For example, if a consumer wants to use a streaming service, currently they simply choose which one they want to use, but without net neutrality, a consumer might worry that their ISP does not support their streaming service of choice, or that it will load slower than another one.

The original law as enforced in 2015 was put in place as a result of a lawsuit against a Comcast in 2007, who had used discriminatory practices when offering internet service. This action sparked the almost-decade long fight to enforce net neutrality. With net neutrality repealed, practices like this could potentially resume in internet services.

The results of the vote to repeal net neutrality were not surprising to many. When President Trump appointed FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, in January of 2017, the goal to repeal net neutrality was not too far out of sight. When Trump hired Ajit Pai in January of 2017, Pai immediately got to work lifting caps for prices that ISPs could charge companies and making changes to the world of ISPs as it is known. Consequently, the vote turned out 3 to 2.

Despite the hysteria of the media, the repeal of net neutrality is not the end of the internet. It wasn’t until three years ago that it was enforced in the first place, but the possible consequences still frighten many. Regardless, the repeal will not take effect for another year and it could be shot down by congress in a CRA vote.

In addition to possible opposition in Congress, a legal battle against the repeal has already begun with many tech giants backing it including Facebook, Google, and Netflix.