Network Neutrality

Ajit Pai had a dilemma when overseeing the creation of the Federal Communications Commission's new Broadband Deployment Report. Anyone who is familiar with the FCC chairman's rhetoric over the past few years could make two safe predictions about this report. The report would conclude that broadband deployment in the US is going just fine and that the repeal of network neutrality rules is largely responsible for any new broadband deployment.

[Commentary] Just seven years after the $30 billion mega-merger between Comcast and NBCUniversal, the behemoth company has been freed from the temporary rules the Federal Communications Commission imposed to prevent it from discriminating against its competitors. Whether you’re a TV consumer, another cable company or a content provider, there’s good reason to be concerned. Comcast-NBCU has found ways to leverage its assets in ways that harm consumers and competition, and some of these moves have violated the FCC's conditions.

The Federal Communication Commission's controversial repeal of network neutrality in 2017 has yet to go into effect, but a researcher at Northeastern University has built an app that detects when mobile carriers may be throttling traffic to apps like Netflix and YouTube. Dave Choffnes and his Ph.D. students built the app, called WeHe, in 2017 and now it's available for anyone to download.

Lawmakers in Rhode Island have introduced legislation to counter the repeal of federal network neutrality rules. RI state Rep Aaron Regunberg (D-Providence), introduced a bill to allow Rhode Island to preserve net neutrality as much as possible following the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of the policy. State Rep Regunberg, lieutenant governor candidate, says it would require internet access purchased or funded by the state be provided in an unbiased manner, consistent with net neutrality principles.

For those who still hold that Baton Rouge (LA) has missed the hyperpartisan political culture that defines Washington these days, a brief vignette from a recent Louisiana Public Service Commission meeting might prove enlightening. PSC Commissioner Foster Campbell, a Bossier Parish populist who carried the Democratic banner in the last Senate race, asked the regulatory panel to go on record supporting net neutrality, just like 22 other states have done. PSC Commissioner Mike Francis, who once chaired the Republican Party, asked the identity of the 22.

Championing a bill that protects consumers and ensures small businesses can compete in a world driven by technology made perfect sense to WA state Rep Norma Smith (R-Whidbey Island). State Rep Smith doesn’t view network neutrality laws as a partisan issue. Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, “this is an issue that needs to matter to everyone,” Smith said. State Rep Smith and WA state Rep Drew Hansen (D-Bainbridge Island) both have sponsored bills that would ensure net neutrality in Washington state. The bills were easily voted out of committee and now mirror each other.

[Commentary] AT&T has decided it’s good business to advocate for an “Internet Bill of Rights.” Of course, that catchy name doesn’t in any way mean that what AT&T wants is a codified list of rights for Internet users. No, what AT&T wants is to keep a firm hold on the gains it has made in the last year at the expense of its customers’ rights. There is nothing in the history—the very recent history—of AT&T to make anyone believe that it has anyone’s actual best interests at heart.

Disrupting traffic has long been a way for protesters to call attention to a cause. But when the cause itself is speed—in this case, Internet speed—the move takes on an extra level of defiance. That’s what one cyclist made clear when he used his bike to protest the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC voted in December to end Obama-era rules for Internet service providers.

Apparently, the Senate has now received official notice of the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality repeal. That procedural development is important because it could be the first step to triggering a 60-day clock for Congress to undo the FCC’s decision. (That is, 60 legislative days.) The Senate’s 47 Democrats and two independents plus Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) have said they would support such a maneuver, using the Congressional Review Act. That’s 50 votes, still one vote short of the number needed for approval in the Senate. 

As Congress considers a measure that would overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s vote that destroyed Network Neutrality and put the internet’s entire future at risk, all eyes are on Sen John Kennedy (R-LA). Right now that measure has 50 supporters in the Senate — and needs just one more vote to pass.