Here’s the good news. If you’re in the US, the FCC has voted 3-2 in terms of regulating the Internet like a utility such as your phone service. In effect, it is enforcing net neutrality. This is a very good thing as there will be no Internet “slow lanes” or “fast lanes” based on the content you consume. The new rules replace regulations that had been thrown out by a federal court last year.
ISPs, Telcos and the like are freaking out. Exhibit A is AT&T’s top legislative executive, Jim Cicconi, sharing his thoughts in a blog post. But their basic gripe is this: Applying these sorts of regulations to the broadband industry will stifle innovation by hurting investment opportunities in networks. It could also allow the government to impose new taxes and tariffs, which would increase consumer bills. And they say it could even allow the government to force network operators to share their infrastructure with competitors. Personally, I don’t see that happening. But they’re so upset about this that they are sure to file suit against the FCC. The FCC for its part claims that it is ready to fight this out in court. Thus, I would not pop the champagne just yet. The fight for net neutrality is not yet over.
So, when is something like this coming to Canada?
UPDATE: Upon further reflection, if you read the press release from the FCC in greater detail, it appears that they’ve copied and pasted a lot of it from the efforts of the CRTC. Though it is still a work in progress as highlighted by this decision against Bell and Videotron and Bell’s decision to appeal that decision.
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This entry was posted on February 27, 2015 at 9:06 am and is filed under Commentary with tags FCC, Net Neutrality, US. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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FCC Votes For Net Neutrality…. But Don’t Celebrate Just Yet
Here’s the good news. If you’re in the US, the FCC has voted 3-2 in terms of regulating the Internet like a utility such as your phone service. In effect, it is enforcing net neutrality. This is a very good thing as there will be no Internet “slow lanes” or “fast lanes” based on the content you consume. The new rules replace regulations that had been thrown out by a federal court last year.
ISPs, Telcos and the like are freaking out. Exhibit A is AT&T’s top legislative executive, Jim Cicconi, sharing his thoughts in a blog post. But their basic gripe is this: Applying these sorts of regulations to the broadband industry will stifle innovation by hurting investment opportunities in networks. It could also allow the government to impose new taxes and tariffs, which would increase consumer bills. And they say it could even allow the government to force network operators to share their infrastructure with competitors. Personally, I don’t see that happening. But they’re so upset about this that they are sure to file suit against the FCC. The FCC for its part claims that it is ready to fight this out in court. Thus, I would not pop the champagne just yet. The fight for net neutrality is not yet over.
So, when is something like this coming to Canada?
UPDATE: Upon further reflection, if you read the press release from the FCC in greater detail, it appears that they’ve copied and pasted a lot of it from the efforts of the CRTC. Though it is still a work in progress as highlighted by this decision against Bell and Videotron and Bell’s decision to appeal that decision.
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This entry was posted on February 27, 2015 at 9:06 am and is filed under Commentary with tags FCC, Net Neutrality, US. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.