Net neutrality is affordable internet access to all Americans. Some broadband providers have proposed to start charging more to their customers for higher levels of service, much like cell phone companies. The Federal Communications Commission started a huge uproar in the net neutrality debate that happened on Thursday when it announced that it will seek public comment on imposing new regulations on Internet service providers to keep them from offering tiered service. In the meantime, Capitol Hill tries to define FCC's authority better. But the FCC doesn’t want to have to wait for Congress to get around to it before it regains control of the net neutrality issue.
Source for this article: FCC proposes net neutrality 3rd Way
FCC net neutrality
Groups such as savetheinternet.com are in favor of net neutrality. Internet service providers and free market advocates are against it. Until last week the two proposed versions of net neutrality legislation would have prohibited: (1) the “tiering” of broadband through either sale of voice- or video-oriented Quality of Service packages; and (2) content- or service-sensitive blocking or censorship on the part of broadband carriers. A week ago, the FCC released what is called the “Third Way” plan.
Net neutrality and also the Third Way
Net neutrality under the 3rd way, as reported by the Washington Post, is this: Presently, broadband is defined as an info service, which means it doesn’t face much FCC oversight. The new plan is to shift broadband to the same classification as telephone service, which would trigger a whole lot more oversight by the agency. The FCC says it wouldn’t subject Internet service providers to the full brunt of regulation that would come with the new classification.
Comcast and their net neutrality case
The FCC’s Third Way is some kind of effort to regain control of the net neutrality issue in response to a Federal Court decision in April that overturned a 2008 FCC ruling in the Comcast net neutrality case. In 2007, Comcast was discovered to be severely delaying BitTorrent uploads on their network, claiming that downloading huge amounts of data was clogging the network. In August 2008, the FCC ruled that Comcast broke the law when it messed with the bandwidth accessible to certain customers for video files in order to make sure that other customers had adequate bandwidth.
Net neutrality challenge by Time Warner
In a 2009 test of the net neutrality issue, Time Warner Cable announced that its intention is to offer broadband packages in 10GB, 20GB, 40GB and 60GB increments. The plan has a charge of $1 per GB capped at $75. Time Warner launched the pricing system in various markets. The company announced later it would offer larger packages but the public still wasn't amused. Eventually they had to abandon the Time Warner net neutrality challenge.
The net neutrality Supporters
The FCC voted on Thursday afternoon to start the controversial process of reclassifying high-speed Internet access to give the agency authority over service providers that would prevent disparate treatment of customers. The Channel Web reports that a week ago, a group of 13 companies including Amazon, Google and Sony sent the FCC a letter in support of the 3rd Way saying that it will ensure that consumers have access to an open Internet, one that would preserve a level playing field for all participants. The net neutrality supporters said the Third Way does so without regulating the Internet but by making use of basic rules of the road to the transmission services that supply access to the Internet.
Being against net neutrality
Republicans in Congress are adamantly against net neutrality any which way. The LA Times reports that Republicans offer the familiar argument the Third Way is more government meddling in a free market that will stunt innovation and investment, echoing their Internet-service provider patrons. Texas Republican senator Kay Bailey Hutchison while speaking out against net neutrality explained that the agency has created “new burdensome regulations that threaten to stifle the growth of America’s broadband services.”
Net neutrality letter from Google
Google supported FCC's decision. ”As we have said before, broadband infrastructure is too significant to be left outside of any oversight,” the business explained on The Official Google Blog. Massachusetts Democratic senator Edward J. Markey loved the FCC’s move, calling it a “light-touch regulatory proposal” that would ensure “continued innovation, consumer protection and certainty in the broadband marketplace.”
Read more on this topic here
savetheinternet.com
savetheinternet.com/
Washington Post
voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/06/fcc_votes_to_seek_comment_on_i.html
Channel web
crn.com/networking/224701332
Los Angeles times
latimes.com/business/la-fi-0618-fcc-broadband-20100618,,5300272.story
Google blog
googleblog.blogspot.com/
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