Net neutrality is all but dead. Here's what happens now.

https://mashable.com/ ^ | 4/23/18 | MJ FRANKLIN

[BBell]

Everyone take a moment of silence please — the free and open internet is all but dead.

In December 2017 the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, voted to repeal net neutrality, signaling the end of the open internet as we know it.

The decision was controversial at the time, with everyone from Alyssa Milano to Reddit calling out the FCC in the lead-up to the vote, but the the vote was just the first step toward repeal. To enact the change, the FCC would have to officially list the ruling and provide a timeline for it.

That listing came in February and, now we're even closer to net neutrality's funeral. The listing notes the repeal's effective date as April 23, but there's a big asterisk next to it. The effective date isn't actually the effective date for the most impactful parts of the repeal. We have to wait for an administrative step — a review by the Office of Management and Budget — and then there will be another published notice.

Net neutrality is a series of regulations, instituted by the Obama administration, designed to ensure that the internet is open and free. That sounds very conceptual but basically it means internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast or Verizon can't slow down specific sites and charge companies for preferential treatment for internet access.

The dominant metaphor used to explain net neutrality is the image of a highway. Under net neutrality, the internet functions as a one-lane highway — everyone and everything flows at the same rate, on the same path (more or less). Every site, no matter how big or small, was given equal access.

"At the core, [net neuatrality] means all data and content on the internet must be given equal rights, whether you're a college student in a dorm room or a mega-conglomerate that uses up a lot of the web's speed for, say, streaming movies and TV shows," Mashable's Samantha Murphy wrote in 2015.

But without net neutrality, ISPs could institute fast and slow lanes, decide to block sites, and charge companies more money varying levels of access to their audience. In other words, hypothetically speaking, a company like Hulu could pay more money to load faster than Netflix, effectively purchasing a competitive edge.

The decision has largely been decried as a move that undermines innovation, making it harder for startups and younger companies to compete with existing corporations that can afford to cover the costs for preferential treatment from ISPs.

"The internet mostly evolved under net neutrality principles. This meant that the internet was something of a meritocracy. The best idea would conceivably win out," Mashable's Jason Abbruzzese wrote in 2017 following the net neutrality vote. "Without net neutrality, this could change, opening up the door to corporate domination of the internet."

For anybody looking for a more visual illustration, Burger King explained it using Whoppers.

So why are we ending net neutrality? On December 14, the FCC voted in a 3-2 decision to repeal the net neutrality legislation put in place by the Obama administration.

Opponents of net neutrality say net neutrality is an overextension of government regulation, that the internet doesn't need federal governance to function fairly.

Instead, the FCC board says that if there is a violation, those violations can go to the FTC.

Explaining the vote, Mashable's Jason Abbruzzese used a cops and courts metaphor. The FCC are the cops preventing crimes from happening. But the FTC is like a court, adjudicating after a crime has been committed.

"The FTC is more like the court system. If someone wrongs you, you have to take them to court. Then you have to wait. Then you have to hope you win. This is what the FTC is—a passive system," Abbruzzese outlined.

But I don't own a business. I just use the internet to browse. Does this affect me too? Yep! The repercussions of net neutrality could also be felt but individual internet users. After all, if an ISP institutes slower load times for your favorite sites, that means more time waiting for them to appear in your browser or app. In other words, without net neutrality, you may see more of those infamous internet buffering icons on your favorite websites.

Another thing that could happen is, in order to pay for a higher tier of internet access, services may start charging higher premiums to offset the increased cost of broadband.

Overall, the industries that will be affected by the net neutrality repeal run the gamut of services — from porn to health care ("These days, electronic health records are often kept in the cloud, and fast and reliable access to this data is vital to patient care," writes Mashable's Jack Morse).

So that's it? Net Neutrality is just over now? Fortunately, not all hope is lost.

First, just because the lack of net neutrality means, technically, ISPs can charge for preferential internet access doesn't mean they necessarily will. And some ISPs have already stated their commitment to keeping the internet open. For instance, Comcast senior executive VP David Cohen wrote a blog post stating, "Comcast customers will continue to enjoy all of the benefits of an open Internet today, tomorrow, and in the future. Period... We’ve said consistently we’ve not entered into paid prioritization agreements and have no plans to do so."

Also, proponents of net neutrality aren't going down without a fight.

States and towns are sticking up for an open internet, passing local legislation to protect and free an open internet. New York's governor Andrew Cuomo, for instance, signed an executive order stating that "the internet is an essential service that should be available to all New Yorkers," and accordingly banned New York State's government from entering any contract with ISPs unless they agree to net neutrality principles. Montana governor Steve Bullock also signed an executive order stating that "the state of Montana will only do business with companies that adhere to net neutrality."

Meanwhile, over 20 state attorneys general — including AGs for New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and D.C. — have filed a lawsuit against the FCC and the United States of America.

"An open internet — and the free exchange of ideas it allows — is critical to our democratic process. The repeal of net neutrality would turn internet service providers into gatekeepers – allowing them to put profits over consumers while controlling what we see, what we do, and what we say online," said Attorney General Schneiderman of New York said in a statement about the suit.

The question that remains is how much can ongoing lawsuits and state legislation counter the repeal of net neutrality.

"In some circumstances, a federal agency like the FCC can “pre-empt” state and local laws and rules when they are inconsistent with federal laws and rules. Comcast and Verizon asked for this preemption after Congress repealed the FCC’s strong broadband privacy rules and some 16 states introduced laws that would protect users’ privacy. As usual, Pai gave these powerful companies exactly what they asked for," Gigi Sohn wrote for Mashable in November 2017.

Is there anything that I can do to advocate for Net Neutrality? The fight against net neutrality can seem like it's happening all above us: States and giant tech companies fighting the federal government. But there is a lot that we as consumers can do to stand up for net neutrality rules.

The first, obviously, is to stay informed of any changes that are happening. One way to stay informed about what changes companies are making following the net neutrality is to read the "terms of service," assistant professor of information at the University of Michigan told Mashable in December 2017, following the FCC vote.

"Next time Comcast, Verizon, AT&T update their terms of service (TOS) or privacy policy, what are they actually changing? It's probably not going to be super obvious and might just be things where they kind of loosen the language a little bit to allow them to do stuff they weren't allowed before, but that's the stuff to watch out for."

You can find a helpful explainer on how to be a responsible citizen of the internet in a post-net neutrality world here.

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

The repeal of the Obama regulation was a great move. They were treating, and regulating, ISP’s like utilities. It was stifling innovation and investment. ISP’s were not running new fiber or trying radical ideas to speed up service and lower costs.

Now the internet goes back to what it was, way back in...2015. lol. Re-opens the door to innovation that was closed for 3 years under the Obama control freaks.

Yup. All the hoopla is bs.

[Jumper]

So annoying pop ups might load faster or slower depending on who pays for website usage, say the customer or the advertising.

[usconservative]

Look at it this way. We didn’t have it before Obama and we were doing fine. Just the government sticking its nose in another business for no reason.

The biggest argument against NN (Net Neutrality) is really quite simple:

If you look at all the innovation related to the Internet that happened before NN was implemented under the Obama Administration it's really quite astounding. The success of Amazon & Netflix happened without NN being in place. "The Cloud" is another. Amazon Cloud, Microsoft Cloud and others were all on their way to becoming what they are today. The list of examples against NN is so lengthy I don't think I could type it all.

The argument for net neutrality is largely based on the internet being "free" or cost constrained and concerns that political speech would be censored ala Facebook, Google, Twitter and other "social media" platforms. Then of course there's the lousy service from giant internet service providers like Comcast for example who really does charge high prices for crappy service.

As a Comcast customer myself, I certainly wish I had other options than their sh*tty service however that's finally coming with the implementation of 5G service which will rival and beat cable based internet services for speed and fludity of the service across whatever device I choose to use, where ever I choose to use it. Finally, I don't think 5G would be coming as fast as it is if NN were in place. Companies were really hampered from a revenue and capital expenditures to drive innovation. There were also some pretty heavy regulatory burdens that have finally been lifted thanks to PDJT which is helping the deployment of 5G across the country.

Personally I was for NN in the beginning based largely on my hatred for Comcast and their really sh*tty service and no other option. As I learned more and more, I changed my mind largely because I wanted more competition which would ultimately drive companies like Comcast to improve or make them fail in favor of a better technology.

My hunch? Comcast will go the way of Sears. There is no such thing as "Too Big To Fail" in the Technology world.

[rlmorel]

Ajit Pai was an excellent person out front on this, well spoken, understands the issues on this. At the root of all this is not "Internet Speed" but suppression of free speech and bureaucratic oversight of the Internet. This approach by the Trump Administration is right in line with his goal of decreasing the amount of legislation and oversight on the books. As an aside, check out this graphic to demonstrate how well the Trump Administration is doing:

This graph shows additions to the Federal Register (the comprehensive collection of US laws and statutes) by Presidential Year

Or this one showing the number of pages in the register:

The point to those is to show this stance by the FCC is completely in line with conservative principles of Freedom of Speech, Small Government, and promoting Capitalism (competition and reducing costs to the consumer) all of which benefit us as US Citizens.

Anyway, here are a few links to interviews of Ajit Pai (FCC Chair), and some images below about the company we would keep if we support "Net Neutrality".

This one is not bad in spite of being a PBS interview, because the guy tries to snare him with various common liberal tropes, but Agit Pai answers convincingly and well: Ajit Pai FCC Director on PBS

This one on Fox News is a little better in respect to why repealing Net Neutrality is good for business, good for the economy, and most of all, good for the consumer. Plus, it has the added advantage of a very attractive woman interviewing him...:) Ajit Pai on Fox News Business

Going back to my point about taking notice of who is FOR "Net Neutrality" (an Ayn Rand-ish dystopian government name for legislation if there ever was one) take a look at these protest pictures (the Internet is full of them):

These Leftists are honest, even if they haven't got the balls to show their faces. This is, of course, the end goal of every single one of these people in the images shown below, whether they admit it or not, or even if they don't know it:

Gee whiz...the Raised Fist emblem...where, oh where, have I seen THAT before? Oh, it is missing the rose in the fist, that is why I didn't recognize it.:

LEAVE MY BODY...er...MY INTERNET ALONE!:

Ah, the good old Guy Fawkes mask, a staple of the Left these days, even if they have no idea who he was. They like the movie...:

Obamian Drones for Net Neutrality!:

ARRECK BAHLWIN (TEAM AMERICA): "But...The, the, ...global warming and... corporate greed, and..."

Indian IT Lives Matter!:

This one I found funny...calling on the gone and departed Obama to save them from Corporate Greed!:

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

Great post!!!!

There was—and still is—so much disinformation about so called Net Neutrality.

Dismantle the administrative state!!! Unleash Capitalism and let the market work its magic!

[usconservative]

A bookmark worthy post!

[Buckeye McFrog]

Frankly I’m not sure why Trump would mess with this.
It is a Third Rail issue for Millenials. If doing this motivates them to get off the couch and actually vote we could rue the day.

[rlmorel]

Exactly! And by the way...I absolutely GRIN every time I see your handle post on a thread...

There are some darn good Freeper handles, but yours ranks up there...I wish I had thought to grab it!

[rlmorel]

Thank you, usconservative.

LOL, you could probably TELL I feel strongly about that issue...

[dfwgator]

It is a Third Rail issue for Millenials. If doing this motivates them to get off the couch and actually vote we could rue the day.

Oh yeah, like Tide Pod eaters are going to understand how the Internet works.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BBell. It was a way to make every site pay the same amount for access, even though a handful of sites generate most of the traffic. If we had electricity neutrality, businesses and residences would pay the same rate.

[lee martell]

Thanks for the explanation and graphics.

[rlmorel]

My pleasure...I have to be careful. I get so enthusiastic about this that I assume every conservative feels as I do...and I don’t believe that is true.

I need to keep that in mind.

[thesearethetimes...]

Bkmk

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

Thanks! I had to beg the powers that be to change it. Long story, but they pitied me I think. Was Cruz2Victory....shudder. Was aboard the Trump Train early, and facepalmed myself for the old handle.

Actually was one of the first 100 here years back. Another long story lol.

[rlmorel]

LOL...Cruz2Victory...logging into FR would bring to mind “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”

Love the handle...:)

[ptsal]

Global warming will accelerate.

[Flaming Conservative]

If Obama enacted net neutrality, and big internet and social media companies are for it, then I’m against it. I don’t understand what it is or isn’t, but I know liberals fought like crazy to keep it, so it can’t be good. If a conservative can explain it to me, that would be great.

[BBell]

How about a cat.

Debating Net-Neutrality From The Other Perspective.

[jonno]

NN bookmark