All I wanted was to use websites that I choose...
According to your predictions, we will all get a lot more from the FCC's open internet rules than that!
If I read you correctly, we will see the commodification of wireless data plans. You can bet that the wireless phone providers will fight that tooth and nail, because turning a service into a commodity always drives down the price, often at the cost of profit margins.
Even if we don't achieve that, the fact that ISPs will have to keep the internet open for home users means that we will continue the amazing innovation that consumers having free (in the liberty sense) choice of what web based services has already achieved.
When all bits are not considered equal, bandwidth becomes a traded commodity. A Free Market, not Net Neutrality is in store for the continuing evolution of the Internet.
While many of you like myself were out of town during the holiday break enjoying some time away from work, or partaking of the mind-numbing substance of your choice to tide away the chilling weather and/or snowpocalypse that kept us all inside through the New Year, the Federal Communications Commission issued the 87-page long Open Internet Order.
The Open Internet Order imposes certain limitations on what they believe (emphasis on believe, because the FCC still needs to prove in court that they can actually enforce these rules) service providers can and cannot do regarding your connectivity as a broadband and wireless Internet services user.
Also Read: FCC Approves Net Neutrality Framework; Now the Politics Begin
So All Bits are Now Created Equal, right? Well, not really. While the Order adopts “basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression” the reality is that under the new FCC rules, if they pass muster in Congress, we’re likely to see a fundamental shift in terms of how we consume and prioritize the use of data in broadband and wireless and how providers will charge us for it.
Under the Open Internet Order, the service providers get new restrictions, but they’re also being given some additional leeway as well, hence the current trend of referring to these new rules as “Net Neutrality Lite”. As consumers, we didn’t get what we really wanted in terms of Net Neutrality legislation — but neither did the big telecoms either.
So what exactly does this really mean? This is certainly going to translate into additional costs, but it also means the Invisible Hand of Capitalism and the Free Market will give consumers additional flexibility.
First, the (sorta) good news. Under the new rules, providers cannot block access to specific kinds of websites and services, such as Netflix or Hulu provided they are lawful. Additionally, “Paid Prioritization” is going to be history, based upon verbiage which states that businesses cannot favor one type of traffic over another (Improved Quality of Service) in the connection of one subscriber over another. The actual verbiage from the Order states:
A person engaged in the provision of fixed broadband Internet access service, insofar as such person is so engaged, shall not unreasonably discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic over a consumer’s broadband Internet access service. Reasonable network management shall not constitute unreasonable discrimination.
“A commercial arrangement between a broadband provider and a third party to directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic in the connection to a subscriber of the broadband provider (i.e., ‘pay for priority’) would raise significant cause for concern,” the Commission then elaborates. This is because “pay for priority would represent a significant departure from historical and current practice.”
All of this is well and good, but did you read the bit about Reasonable network management? What does that mean? Well, this is what the FCC says it means:
“A network management practice is reasonable if it is appropriate and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and technology of the broadband Internet access service. Legitimate network management purposes include: ensuring network security and integrity, including by addressing traffic that is harmful to the network; addressing traffic that is unwanted by users (including by premise operators), such as by providing services or capabilities consistent with a user’s choices regarding parental controls or security capabilities; and by reducing or mitigating the effects of congestion on the network.”
So if you haven’t nodded off and you’re still following along, things such as throttling by ISPs in order to prevent congestion are perfectly okay. And while they can’t block Netflix or Hulu or any number of 3rd-party services, ISPs have the right to adjust how much of it you can eat and how fast you can eat it. And they also have the right to charge for said bandwidth accordingly.
Also Read: Net Neutrality? More Like Neutered Neutrality (ZDNet Government)
But wait, there’s more. These “reasonable management” restrictions only apply to fixed broadband connections, not wireless. Wireless providers are pretty much exempt from all of the new FCC rules outlined in the Open Internet Order with the exception of network transparency (disclosing in detail how their network management practices work) and no content blocking of lawful websites.
To better understand what we are dealing with, let me paint a picture of what the typical wireless and consumer broadband experience might look like, eight years from now.
