Just 61% of respondents to Pew Research's "Web IQ" poll correctly answered a multiple-choice question identifying net neutrality as the “equal treatment of digital content” by Internet service providers.
Fair enough, it's a complex issue.
But it's also an important one, given how much time Americans spend online. So what’s the current state of the net neutrality debate, and where is it going?
Net neutrality is “the principle forbidding huge telecommunications companies from treating users, websites or apps differently,” says tech lawyer Marvin Ammori. That principle was dealt a severe blow in January, when a U.S. appeals court struck down the FCC’s rules that would have made it illegal for telecom firms to give preference to certain types of data traffic over others. Those rules, protecting a free and equal Internet, have been in place since 2010. But the court didn’t agree. They said the FCC could not impose those rules because it defined broadband Internet as an information service, not as a so-called “carrier service” — like the telephone network.
The January ruling opened the door for giant companies like Verizon and Time Warner to cut lucrative deals with specific websites to transmit their content faster than others.
For example: if you’re looking to order fried chicken delivery online, you may have two options in your area: Wacky Wings, a local joint, and Cluck Delight, a big national chain. But Cluck Delight has made a deal with Cableco, your local Internet provider, wherein traffic from their website has preferential treatment over the data streaming to your computer from Wild Wings.
“We’re disappointed that the court came to this conclusion,” said Free Press CEO Craig Aaron. “Its ruling means that Internet users will be pitted against the biggest phone and cable companies — and in the absence of any oversight, these companies can now block and discriminate against their customers’ communications at will.”
The outpouring of dissent against the ruling was immense. In September, the Sunlight Foundation analyzed more than 800,000 public comments made to the FCC. They found more than 99% of these supported protecting equal access to information. This comment period led up to a day of cyber action on September 10, when several major websites — including Netflix, Reddit, Twitter and even Pornhub — deliberately slowed down their traffic to protest the erosion of equal access to data.
All this commotion raised a response from the highest echelons of power. On November 10, President Barack Obama released a statement, urging the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a public utility, much like the phone network or the electricity grid. This would allow the Internet to come under a regulatory framework. Obama presented a four-point plan to achieving net neutrality:
"No blocking. If a consumer requests access to a website or service, and the content is legal, your ISP should not be permitted to block it. That way, every player—not just those commercially affiliated with an ISP — gets a fair shot at your business
No throttling. Nor should ISPs be able to intentionally slow down some content or speed up others — through a process often called “throttling”—based on the type of service or your ISP’s preferences.
Increased transparency. The connection between consumers and ISPs — the so-called “last mile” — is not the only place some sites might get special treatment. So, I am also asking the FCC to make full use of the transparency authorities the court recently upheld, and if necessary to apply net neutrality rules to points of interconnection between the ISP and the rest of the Internet.
No paid prioritization. Simply put: No service should be stuck in a “slow lane” because it does not pay a fee. That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the Internet’s growth. So, as I have before, I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization and any other restriction that has a similar effect."
But Republicans were having none of it. Moments after Obama released his plan, Senator Ted Cruz responded with this tweet:
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 10, 2014
It should be noted that Cruz has accepted campaign funds from Comcast.
So the bickering between pro-market and pro-regulation, between Republican and Democrat, is set to continue.
Meanwhile the real power lies with the FCC and how they choose to treat a resource that was once free and equal for all.
