Download or read book How the FCC Can Preserve the Open Internet Net Neutrality Through Title II Reclassification written by Arthur H. Neill and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The case for reclassifying broadband internet access under Title II, and adopting rules that protect the Open Internet and ensure net neutrality. Introduction & Background: The recent 2014 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Net Neutrality represents an opportunity for the Federal Communications Commission to choose a communications future of innovation, creative exchange, and consumer choice, rather than one where powerful companies can alter the Internet to support entrenched business models. The Commission was certainly correct when it stated that the Internet is “America's most important platform for economic growth, innovation, competition, free expression, and broadband investment and deployment.” As a non-profit organization focused on providing free and low-cost legal assistance to independent creators, internet users, and start-up entrepreneurs (such as musicians, artists, filmmakers, mobile app developers, and more), New Media Rights (“NMR”) is reminded daily of the innumerable benefits the Internet can provide to American innovators, creators, and consumers. As the Commission suggests, these benefits largely flow from the open architecture of the Internet and its low barriers to entry. However, in recent years this openness has been challenged by fixed and mobile broadband internet access providers. We stand at a fork in the road, and if the Commission cannot implement strong, certain, and legally defensible rules to maintain the basic tenants of Net Neutrality (Transparency, No Blocking, No Discrimination), the trend away from an Open Internet is likely to continue to the detriment of not only American consumers and innovators, but American society as a whole.
Download or read book Regulating the Web written by Zachary Stiegler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its popularization in the mid 1990s, the Internet has impacted nearly every aspect of our cultural and personal lives. Over the course of two decades, the Internet remained an unregulated medium whose characteristic openness allowed numerous applications, services, and websites to flourish. By 2005, Internet Service Providers began to explore alternative methods of network management that would permit them to discriminate the quality and speed of access to online content as they saw fit. In response, the Federal Communications Commission sought to enshrine "net neutrality" in regulatory policy as a means of preserving the Internet's open, nondiscriminatory characteristics. Although the FCC established a net neutrality policy in 2010, debate continues as to who ultimately should have authority to shape and maintain the Internet's structure. Regulating the Web brings together a diverse collection of scholars who examine the net neutrality policy and surrounding debates from a variety of perspectives. In doing so, the book contributes to the ongoing discourse about net neutrality in the hopes that we may continue to work toward preserving a truly open Internet structure in the United States.
Download or read book The Net Neutrality Debate written by Congressional Research Service and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-07-20 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As congressional policymakers continue to debate telecommunications reform, a major discussion point revolves around what approach should be taken to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet, to ensure equal access and nondiscriminatory treatment, is referred to as "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its February 26, 2015, open meeting voted 3-2, along party lines, to adopt new open Internet rules and released these rules on March 12, 2015. One of the most controversial aspects of the rules is the decision to reclassify broadband Internet access service as telecommunications service under Title II, thereby subjecting Internet service providers to a more stringent regulatory framework. With limited exceptions, the rules went into effect June 12, 2015. Various parties challenged the legality of the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a June 14, 2016, ruling, voted (2-1) to uphold the legality of all aspects of the 2015 FCC Order. A petition for full court review was denied, leaving the next legal option a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review. The FCC's May 18, 2017, adoption (2-1) of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to reexamine the rules adopted in 2015, with an eye to considering a less regulatory approach, has once again opened up the debate over what the appropriate framework is to ensure an open Internet. Reaction to this proposal has been mixed. Some see the current FCC rules as regulatory overreach and welcome a more "light-touch" approach which they feel will stimulate broadband investment, deployment, and innovation. Others fully support the current 2015 regulations and feel that their modification will result in a concentration of power to the detriment of content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, and refute the claim that these regulations have had a negative impact on broadband investment, expansion, or innovation. To date, congressional action in the 115th Congress has focused on two aspects of the current rules: privacy (S.J.Res. 34, S. 878, S. 964, H.J.Res. 86, H.Res. 230, H.R. 1754, H.R. 1868, H.R. 2520) and transparency (S. 228, H.R. 288). Separately, legislation (S. 993) to nullify the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order has also been introduced. The FCC's move to reexamine its existing open Internet rules has reopened the debate over whether Congress should consider a more comprehensive measure to amend existing law to provide greater regulatory stability and guidance to the FCC. Whether Congress will choose to address more comprehensive legislation to amend the 1934 Communications Act, to provide a broad-based framework for such regulation, remains to be seen.
Download or read book Wrecking the Internet to Save It written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Net Neutrality Debate written by Congressional Research Service and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-02-03 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As congressional policymakers continue to debate telecommunications reform, a major discussion point revolves around what approach should be taken to ensure unfettered access to the internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the internet, to ensure equal access and nondiscriminatory treatment, is referred to as "net neutrality." There is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," but most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its February 26, 2015, open meeting voted 3-2, along party lines, to adopt open internet rules and released these rules on March 12, 2015. One of the most controversial aspects of the rules was the decision to reclassify broadband internet access service as telecommunications service under Title II, thereby subjecting internet service providers to a more stringent regulatory framework. With limited exceptions, the rules went into effect June 12, 2015. Various parties challenged the legality of the FCC's 2015 Open Internet Order, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a June 14, 2016, ruling, voted (2-1) to uphold the legality of all aspects of the 2015 FCC Order. A petition for full U.S. Appeals Court review was denied and a subsequent petition for U.S. Supreme Court review was declined. The FCC on December 14, 2017, adopted (3-2) an Order that largely reverses the 2015 regulatory framework. The 2017 Order, among other things, reverses the 2015 classification of broadband internet access services as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act, shifts much of the oversight from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, and provides for a less regulatory approach. This action has once again opened up the debate over what the appropriate framework is to ensure an open internet. Reaction to the 2017 Order has been mixed. Some see the 2015 FCC rules as regulatory overreach and welcome a more "light-touch" approach, which they feel will stimulate broadband investment, deployment, and innovation. Others support the 2015 regulations and feel that their reversal will result in a concentration of power to the detriment of content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, and refute the claim that these regulations have had a negative impact on broadband investment, expansion, or innovation. The 2017 Order was published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2018, and went into effect on June 11, 2018. Federal Register publication triggered timelines for both court challenges and Congressional Review Act (CRA) consideration. Petitions for review have been consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. CRA resolutions (S.J.Res. 52, H.J.Res. 129) to overturn the 2017 Order, were introduced in the 115th Congress. S.J.Res. 52 passed (52-47) the Senate, but H.J.Res. 129 was not considered in the House. The FCC's move to adopt the 2017 Order has reopened the debate over whether Congress should consider a measure to amend existing law to provide greater regulatory stability and guidance to the FCC regarding broadband access. Four bills (H.R. 4682, H.R. 6393, S. 2510, and S. 2853) to provide a regulatory framework to outline FCC authority over broadband internet access services were introduced, but not acted on, in the 115th Congress. Debate over what the appropriate regulatory framework should be for broadband access is expected to continue in the 116th Congress.
Download or read book Access to Broadband Networks written by Congressional Research Congressional Research Service and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-11-11 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As congressional policy makers continue to debate telecommunications reform, a major point of contention is the question of whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet, to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment, is referred to as "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of "net neutrality," most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network, and they should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network. A major focus in the debate is concern over whether it is necessary for policy makers to take steps to ensure access to the Internet for content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, and if so, what these steps should be. Some policy makers contend that more specific regulatory guidelines may be necessary to protect the marketplace from potential abuses which could threaten the net neutrality concept. Others contend that existing laws and policies are sufficient to deal with potential anti-competitive behavior and that additional regulations would have negative effects on the expansion and future development of the Internet. The January 2014 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit (Verizon Communications Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, D.C. Cir., No.11-1355) upholding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to use Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to regulate broadband providers, but striking down the specific anti blocking and nondiscrimination rules of the FCC's 2010 Open Internet Order has focused attention on the issue. Seven measures (H.R. 3982, H.R. 4070, H.R. 4752, H.R. 4880, H.R. 5429, S. 1981, and S. 2476) have been introduced in direct response to the January 2014 court decision, and subsequent FCC action. In response to the court remand the FCC on May 15, 2014, adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, to seek comment "on how best to protect and promote an open Internet." A consensus on the net neutrality issue has remained elusive. Some Members of Congress support FCC regulation of broadband providers, others feel that the regulation of the Internet is not only unnecessary, but harmful. The release on November 10, 2014, of a statement by President Obama, urging the FCC to adopt regulations to reclassify Internet access services as telecommunications services to be regulated under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act has once again focused attention on the debate. The FCC has yet to make a decision, but regardless of the outcome it is anticipated that the issue of access to broadband networks will be of continued interest to policy makers. The net neutrality issue has also been narrowly addressed within the context of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, P.L. 111-5). Provisions required the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in consultation with the FCC, to establish "nondiscrimination and network interconnection obligations" as a requirement for grant participants in the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). These obligations were released, July 1, 2009, in conjunction with the issuance of a notice of funds availability soliciting applications. Recipients of these awards have been selected and continued congressional oversight is expected.
Download or read book Internet Architecture and Innovation written by Barbara Van Schewick and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2012-08-24 with total page 587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed examination of how the underlying technical structure of the Internet affects the economic environment for innovation and the implications for public policy. Today—following housing bubbles, bank collapses, and high unemployment—the Internet remains the most reliable mechanism for fostering innovation and creating new wealth. The Internet's remarkable growth has been fueled by innovation. In this pathbreaking book, Barbara van Schewick argues that this explosion of innovation is not an accident, but a consequence of the Internet's architecture—a consequence of technical choices regarding the Internet's inner structure that were made early in its history. The Internet's original architecture was based on four design principles: modularity, layering, and two versions of the celebrated but often misunderstood end-to-end arguments. But today, the Internet's architecture is changing in ways that deviate from the Internet's original design principles, removing the features that have fostered innovation and threatening the Internet's ability to spur economic growth, to improve democratic discourse, and to provide a decentralized environment for social and cultural interaction in which anyone can participate. If no one intervenes, network providers' interests will drive networks further away from the original design principles. If the Internet's value for society is to be preserved, van Schewick argues, policymakers will have to intervene and protect the features that were at the core of the Internet's success.
Download or read book Net Neutrality written by Kathleen Ann Ruane and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report discusses the primary legal issues raised by the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) 2015 Open Internet Order: the FCC's authority to reclassify broadband Internet access services, the FCC's authority to forbear from the imposition of Title II regulations following reclassification, the FCC's authority under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and whether the FCC properly complied with the Administrative Procedure Act.
Download or read book Access to Broadband Networks written by Angele A. Gilroy and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As congressional policymakers continue to debate telecomm. reform, a major point of contention is the question of whether action is needed to ensure unfettered access to the Internet. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that compose and provide access to the Internet, to ensure equal access and non-discriminatory treatment, is referred to as ¿net neutrality.¿A major focus in the debate is concern over whether it is necessary for policymakers to take steps to ensure access to the Internet for content, services, and applications providers, as well as consumers, what these steps should be. Contents of this report: Intro.; FCC Activity; Industry Initiatives; Network Mgmt.; The Policy Debate; Congress. Activity. A print on demand report.
Download or read book Net Neutrality Contributions to the Debate written by Jorge Pérez Martínez (Coord.) and published by Fundación Telefónica. This book was released on 2011-03-30 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After a decade of discussion on how to guarantee an open, sustainable internet and often intense debate regarding the Federal Communications Commission's 2009 public hearing on the application of the principles of net neutrality, on 21st December 2010 the various elements that comprise the solution to this now famous controversy were passed. This solution has not satisfied many people, and nearly everyone agrees that it will not end the debate and nor will it resolve the underlying structural problems. This book examines the source, development and viewpoints on this issue based on contributions from leading experts from the academic and business worlds in the USA and Europe who have been involved in the debate. This is a highly important book for understanding the various points of view on the very current and controversial issue of web neutrality.
Download or read book Net Neutrality Compendium written by Luca Belli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ways in which Internet traffic is managed have direct consequences on Internet users’ rights as well as on their capability to compete on a level playing field. Network neutrality mandates to treat Internet traffic in a non-discriminatory fashion in order to maximise end users’ freedom and safeguard an open Internet. This book is the result of a collective work aimed at providing deeper insight into what is network neutrality, how does it relates to human rights and free competition and how to properly frame this key issue through sustainable policies and regulations. The Net Neutrality Compendium stems from three years of discussions nurtured by the members of the Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality (DCNN), an open and multi-stakeholder group, established under the aegis of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Download or read book Net Neutrality and What It Means to You written by Jeff Mapua and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Internet users can find it difficult to keep up on the ever-changing laws, issues, and challenges that affect their media experience. In clear, easy-to-grasp language, this guide explains the basic workings of internet connections, IP addresses, and bandwidth throttling. The status of information control by governments and internet providers is explored in both the United States and an international context. This insightful title makes clear the debate between those who support net neutrality and those who oppose it—a debate that affects every internet user today and in the years to come.
Download or read book Net Neutrality and the Battle for the Open Internet written by Danny Kimball and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2022-08-24 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Net neutrality,” a dry but crucial standard of openness in network access, began as a technical principle informing obscure policy debates but became the flashpoint for an all-out political battle for the future of communications and culture. Net Neutrality and the Battle for the Open Internet is a critical cultural history of net neutrality that reveals how this intentionally “boring” world of internet infrastructure and regulation hides a fascinating and pivotal sphere of power, with lessons for communication and media scholars, activists, and anyone interested in technology and politics. While previous studies and academic discussions of net neutrality have been dominated by legal, economic, and technical perspectives, Net Neutrality and the Battle for the Open Internet offers a humanities-based critical theoretical approach, telling the story of how activists and millions of everyday people, online and in the streets, were able to challenge the power of the phone and cable corporations that historically dominated communications policy-making to advance equality and justice in media and technology.
Download or read book The Book of Broken Promises written by Bruce Kushnick and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-02-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Broken Promises is the third book in a trilogy spanning 18 years. Bruce Kushnick, author, senior telecom analyst and industry insider, lays out, in all of the gory details, how America paid over $400 billion to be the first fully fiber optic-based nation yet ended up 27th in the world for high-speed Internet (40th in upload speeds). But this is only a part of this story. With over four million people filing with the FCC to 'Free the Net', one thing is abundantly clear -- customers know something is terribly wrong. Every time you pay your bills you notice that the price of your services keeps going up, you don't have a serious choice for Internet (ISP), broadband or cable service, much less competitors fighting for your business, or maybe you can't even get very fast broadband service. Worse, over the last few years, America's ISPs and cable companies have been rated "the most hated companies in America". While Net Neutrality concerns (detailed in Broken Promises) are important, the actions are only a first step and will most likely be tied up in court for the next few years. More importantly, it does not resolve most of the customer issues and there is nothing else on the horizon that will fix what's broken. Broken Promises documents the massive overcharging and failure to properly upgrade the networks, the deceptive billing practices, the harms caused from a lack of competition, the gaming and manipulating of the regulatory system, from the states to the FCC, and exposes the companies' primary strategy: How much can we get away with? There has been little, if any, regard for the customers they serve.--From http://newnetworks.com/bookbrokenpromises/ --(viewed on June 12, 2015).
Download or read book The Constructive Alternative to Net Neutrality Regulation and Title II Reclassification Wars written by Adam D. Thierer and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has embarked on what can only be described as a “by any means necessary” effort to pigeonhole the Internet and broadband networks into the regulatory regime of a bygone era. The ramifications of this crusade for the digital economy will be profound, as it raises the likelihood of delayed or foregone investment, discouraged innovation at both the core and edge of networks, and the increasing politicization and bureaucratization of high-technology policy. Luckily, there are constructive alternatives to such a destructive regulatory path. As explained below, the better alternative would be based on: (1) a new legislative framework centered on a Federal Trade Commission-like (FTC) enforcement model of ex post adjudication grounded in antitrust law; (2) increased industry self-regulation, technical collaboration, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms; and (3) greater reliance on community policing and expert third-party oversight.
Download or read book Why Net Neutrality Matters written by Committee on Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-06-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FCC is in the process of considering whether to adopt rules that would regulate the Internet. The rules the FCC is now considering will shape the Internet ecosystem for many years to come and could have a profound effect on the U.S. economy, place in the world and ultimately on the nature of society. The Internet we know is the direct result of two key characteristics. First, the Internet separates applications from infrastructure, making it possible to create a networked application without knowing anything about the underlying network. Second, every applications is immediately available to every consumer. These two characteristics radically lowered the cost of building and distributing Internet applications, opening the market to a much larger and more diverse pool of creators. For the first time, people without money, connections, or corporate backing could create an application and reach a global audience. Until recently, Internet access providers could not tell if you were watching Netflix, playing Angry Birds, or posting on Facebook. By default, access to the Internet was open. They have now deployed technology that allows them to see what services you are using. This will make it possible for the cable and telephone companies we use to get to the Internet to charge application developers for faster delivery of packets, slow traffic they decide is less important and even block traffic altogether. The Internet has remained a relatively level playing field because of a combination of FCC enforcement actions and Comcast's acceptance of net neutrality principles as a condition of their merger with NBC. Today, those agreements are nearing expiration, and the FCC's ability to enforce open Internet principles has been sharply curtailed by the DC Circuit Court's decision in the Verizon case.
Download or read book Network Neutrality and Digital Dialogic Communication written by Alison N. Novak and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-03 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the months after the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 2017 decision to repeal network neutrality as US policy, it is easy to forget the decades of public, organizational, media and governmental struggle to control digital policy and open access to the internet. Using dialogic communication tactics, the public, governmental actors and organizations impacted the ruling through YouTube comments, the FCC online system and social network communities. Network neutrality, which requires that all digital sites can be accessed with equal speed and ability, is an important example of how dialogic communication facilitates public engagement in policy debates. However, the practice and ability of the public, organizations and media to engage in dialogic communication are also greatly impacted by the FCC’s decision. This book reflects on decades of global engagement in the network neutrality debate and the evolution of dialogic communication techniques used to shape one of the most relevant and critical digital policies in history.
