Join the FCC’s fight for net neutrality Tuesday and Wednesday in Seattle
The Federal Commerce Commission’s goal of net neutrality moved a little farther out of reach this month, after US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled the FCC lacks the authority to regulate major broadband Internet providers.
The high court’s decision means the FCC has no legal grounds to step in, should Big Cable decide to slow their customers’ connection speeds, increase Internet costs, or filter certain pages from search results.
A customer could, of course switch her broadband Internet provider if she found her service too slow or too costly. The problem is that very little competition exists between major telecommunications companies in many regions of the country. As Timothy Karr points out, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan reveals only four percent of Americans have more than two choices for wireless Internet providers.
And the FCC can’t prevent these Internet providers, companies like Comcast, Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc, and Time Warner, from making some Internet content easier to get to than other Website.
As things stands now, Internet users can connect to any page—whether it be a state-of-the-art Website run by a multi-million dollar corporation, or a teenager’s personal blog— at the same speed.
But the court ruling underscored the illegality of government stopping cable companies from giving priority to selected web content. Put simply, a business can pay cable providers to ensure its company’s site shows up more frequently in a search, or its page downloads the fastest. Big companies can plaster their Website and litter advertisements all over a network, so long as they’re willing to pony up the cash.
As the Economist notes, this poses a serious threat to independent-run Websites lacking deep corporate pockets. (more)
Find details on FCC events in Seattle here at InvestigateWest
Why Must We Protect Net Neutrality and ISP intrusions into our online freedom must stop. Big Cable decide to slow their customers’ connection speeds, increase Internet costs, or filter certain pages from search results. As you well know very little competition exists between major telecommunications companies in many regions of the country. The government must stop cable companies from giving priority to selected web content and controlling speeds. A business can pay cable providers to ensure its company’s site shows up more frequently in a search, or its page downloads the fastest, or block smaller mom and pop company’s pages from showing up at all. The net is the public’s main coarse of information and it should NEVER be compromised. How about a huge company that sells shoes is the only one you can see no one else or the speed is blocked to where the public gets so tired of waiting for page to load they give up. Or lets say they want to block lets say CBS news because cable, cell, dsl or even dial up made a deal with FOX and all the public can load or read is FOX. Think about it, no way can we allow this! I put my full trust in you to STOP this cold in their tracks.
All that seems to have happened is the court said the FCC can’t use the deregulation hack job the Bush Admin unleased in 05 as the basis.
The FCC can and will regulate them. What they want to do is profit from censorship and creating artificial scarcity.
This simply isn’t going to happen. They threated to make war on the US state, but they are making war on the US people and we will can them- we own the market its public infratructure they serve at our pleasure. They’ve forgotten who their master is but it seems they are about to learn.
They didn’t suceed in blocking Skype or keeping their long distance scam up and apparently even on voice despite there best effort with LTE the head of PCS Metro has said he is going to drive the total voice package down to $5 a month and there is nothing the big telcos can do to stop him. They’ve got huge problems but at the end of the day will be the dumb pipes we need them to be.