Regulatory classification

No matter what happens June 11, network neutrality repeal opens the door to some real abuses of internet service providers’ power — not hypothetical scenarios, but real predatory practices we’ve already seen in the past. These incidents show how complicated the issue of net neutrality is: all of these transgressions happened after the 2005 Internet Policy Statement, which laid out four “open internet” principles that would guide the agency’s decisions.

[Commentary] I support a free and open internet. The internet should be an open platform where you are free to go where you want, and say and do what you want, without having to ask anyone's permission. And under the Federal Communications Commission's Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which takes effect June 11, the internet will be just such an open platform. Our framework will protect consumers and promote better, faster internet access and more competition.

The two events in Washington (net neutrality June 11 and AT&T/Time Warner ruling June 12) could lead to further consolidation of wireless, cable and content giants, public-interest advocates say. And they fear that behemoths like AT&T might someday prioritize their own TV shows and other content over rivals’. Internet service providers (ISPs) deny that they would engage in such a practice — yet consumer watchdogs worry that people would have little legal recourse if they did.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai says that as the FCC rolls back the Obama-era network neutrality rules, consumers will be protected under the commission's new "Restoring Internet Freedom" rule which goes into effect June 11. Chairman Pai said that the new rules will provide a "light touch approach" that produces "tremendously positive" benefits for consumers. Chairman Pai says he believes the net neutrality rules adopted during the Obama administration discourage internet providers from making investments in their network to provide better, faster online access. 

[June 11], the Federal Communications Commission’s misguided repeal of network neutrality goes into effect. This is bad news for all of us who rely on an open internet for so many facets of civic and commercial life. Internet service providers now have the power to block websites, throttle services, and censor online content. They will have the right to discriminate and favor the internet traffic of those companies with whom they have pay-for-play arrangements and the right to consign all others to a slow and bumpy road.

I want to harness your energies this morning to talk about three things we can work on together. First, broadband deployment and the infrastructure challenge it presents for cities. Second, broadband adoption and the challenge it presents for students stuck in what I call the Homework Gap. And third and finally, an update on net neutrality.

Internet service providers spent millions of dollars lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to end network neutrality, and they are certainly going to expect a healthy return on that investment. While the ISPs are clearly focused on increasing their profits, here the ISPs are likely to be patient. Their wisest course of action will be to eliminate net neutrality like a slow drip over time in the hope that consumers won’t notice and will stop caring.

With the network neutrality rules coming off the books, how is your Internet experience likely to change? Here's what you need to know:

The Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order, which goes into effect on June 11, 2018, will protect the open Internet that consumers cherish while paving the way for better, faster, cheaper Internet access. The order replaces unnecessary, heavy-handed regulations
dating back to 1934 with strong consumer protections, increased transparency, and common-sense regulations that will promote investment and broadband deployment. The FCC’s framework for protecting Internet freedom has three key parts:

You can be sure that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and his cronies in the phone and cable lobby will declare victory on June 11, but the expiration of the 2015 net neutrality rules will be only a temporary hiccup. The fight is far from over in Congress, in the courts, and across the country. That’s because people everywhere understand what’s at stake. Without net neutrality, large phone and cable companies will control the future of communications, deciding who gets a voice and who doesn’t. No one thinks that letting Comcast manage our clicks is a good idea.