The FCC's Net Neutrality Rules Are Dead, but the Fight Isn't

Source: 
Author: 
Coverage Type: 

Although net neutrality protections end June 11, don't expect to see huge changes right away.

First, there are still some rules constraining broadband providers. Several states, including New York and Washington, have passed regulations that ban or discourage internet providers from favoring certain content based on payments from content providers. Comcast, the nation's largest broadband provider, is temporarily forbidden from violating net neutrality under the terms of the government's approval of its 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal; that restriction expires in September. Charter, the second-largest home broadband provider, is required to uphold net neutrality until 2023 under the terms of its acquisition of Time Warner Cable in 2016.

Most major internet providers have promised not to block, throttle, or discriminate against legal content. But net neutrality activists don't want to take the companies at their word. They’re fighting to block the Federal Communications Commission's December decision in both Congress and the courts while also working to pass new state laws. The most immediate battle to save net neutrality is legislation that would effectively force the FCC to bring back the rules the FCC approved in 2015. 


The FCC's Net Neutrality Rules Are Dead, but the Fight Isn't