So long, net neutrality? FCC to propose new pay-for-preferential treatment rules
by Grant Gross, PC World
The FCC will seek comment on “exactly what the baseline level of service would be, the construction of a ‘commercially reasonable’ standard, and the manner in which disputes would be resolved,” the official added.
Activist anger
Digital rights groups Public Knowledge and Free Press objected to the plan to allow commercial traffic management agreements, sometimes referred to as peering agreements.
“The FCC is inviting ISPs [Internet service providers] to pick winners and losers online,” Michael Weinberg, a vice president at Public Knowledge, said by email. “The very essence of a’”commercial reasonableness’ standard is discrimination. And the core of net neutrality is nondiscrimination. This is not net neutrality.”
The FCC proposal would allow broadband providers to charge higher traffic management prices to Web services that they see as competitors, and dealing with issues on a case-by-case basis would cause confusion for Web entrepreneurs, Weinberg added. “This standard allows ISPs to impose a new price of entry for innovation on the Internet,” he said.
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron called on the FCC to pass “real” net neutrality rules.
“With this proposal, the FCC is aiding and abetting the largest ISPs in their efforts to destroy the open Internet,” he said by email. “Giving ISPs the green light to implement pay-for-priority schemes will be a disaster for startups, nonprofits and everyday Internet users who cannot afford these unnecessary tolls. These users will all be pushed onto the Internet dirt road, while deep pocketed Internet companies enjoy the benefits of the newly created fast lanes.”
The FCC is working on new net neutrality rules after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the agency’s net neutrality regulations in January. The appeals court said the FCC couldn’t enforce the rules because of the agency’s own classification of broadband as an information service, not a telephone-style, common-carrier service.
The court, however, pointed the agency to a section of the Telecommunications Act that gives it broad authority to ensure broadband deployment. That section of telecom law, the court said, could be used as authority to pass net neutrality rules.
The question of content providers paying for traffic prioritization has come up in recent months after Netflix entered into a commercial peering arrangement with Comcast, the largest U.S. broadband provider, in February. The deal gives Comcast subscribers faster speeds when watching Netflix videos.
Still, Netflix, in a blog post last month, called on the FCC to pass strong net neutrality rules to prevent large broadband providers from asking for increasingly higher fees to deliver traffic. See also the.
DCL: The time to contact your political representatives in Washington with your opinions on this matter is NOW!
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