THE Federal Communications Commission will adopt net neutrality rules in early 2015, possibly as soon as February, though observers have not predicted what those rules will look like.
The FCC is under pressure from both President Barack Obama and major Internet service providers, as well as nearly 4 million people who submitted comments to the government agency to adopt stronger rules prohibiting broadband providers from paid priority traffic arrangements.
It appears the FCC will move forward with net neutrality rules in the first quarter of 2015, a little over a year after an appeals court struck down a large portion of net neutrality rules the FCC passed in 2010, said Chris Lewis from Public Knowledge, a digital rights group in favor of strong rules.
We don’t want it to be in 18 months or two years, given the interest of some broadband providers in paid traffic priority arrangements,” Lewis, Public Knowledge’s vice president of government affairs, said. “We shouldn’t be going any longer without net neutrality rules.”
Major Internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon have told the FCC and Congress that adopting strong net neutrality could harm investment and prevent companies from building out of their networks.
“We oppose the concept of fast lanes and slow lanes on the Internet,” wrote Jim Cicconi, an AT&T policy executive, in a blog post.
Some legacy civil rights groups have also spoken out, insisting that net neutrality would harm communities of color by deterring investment and widening the digital divide.
There is no consensus about which direction the FCC should take. Congressional Republicans, broadband providers and Internet service experts have urged FCC officials to back away from reclassifying broadband as a “regulated public utility,” like Obama and other strong net neutrality advocates have called for.
American Commitment, a conservative group with links to billionaire activists the Koch brothers, delivered more than 800,000 comments to the FCC, all saying “the Internet isn’t broken and doesn’t need to be fixed.” The group declared itself a “winner” of the net neutrality comment period.
About two-thirds of people filing comments to the FCC supported strong net neutrality rules.
However, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said recently he has “no set timeline” for moving forward on implementing the rules. The FCC should act quickly, but also make sure any rules it creates will stand up to potential court challenges, Wheeler told reporters.
“A hybrid approach seems mostly likely at this point,” said Mike Wendy, director of free-market advocacy group MediaFreedom. “The FCC seems poised to adopt rules that allow some special arrangements on traffic priority between providers and Web services, but that also provide a backstop to protect against egregious behavior.”
The US Court of Appeals for the District Columbia Circuit, throwing out the 2010 net neutrality rules, pointed to Section 706 as a possible foundation for new rules, but also noted Title II as an option.
Reclassification of broadband to Title II would leave providers with “no choice but to fight the sudden reversal of two decades of settled law,” wrote Randal Milch, Verizon’s general counsel for public policy. “By departing from the judicially sanctioned Section 706 approach, the FCC will have increased both the likelihood—and the likelihood of success—of any legal challenge. But [an approach] also fairly guarantees litigation.”
If the FCC passes weak net neutrality rules, public interest organizations could likely sue, according to the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a tech trade group in favor of strong net rules.
On the other hand, if it reclassifies broadband as a regulated utility, Congress will likely attempt to push back. With Republicans now in control of both the House and the Senate starting January, opponents of new regulations will likely push to head off FCC action in the new year. Republicans could also push to pass a disapproval review if the FCC reclassifies broadband early in 2015.
Obama, however, would almost certainly veto any congressional action to negate strong net neutrality rules.
Some Republican lawmakers are also considering compromise legislation as a separate provision of the Communications Act, so-called “Title X,” that would allow the FCC to prohibit broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web traffic or offering paid prioritization arrangement. Title X would essentially protect net neutrality principles Obama called for. For instance, it would give FCC chairman Tom Wheeler the authority to prevent broadband companies from blocking or slowing Web site traffic or charging content companies (such as Netflix) for faster access to their subscribers, known as “paid prioritization.”
Pushed by some broadband providers, it would also prohibit the FCC from reclassifying broadband and exposing it to common carrier rules such as universal service and price regulation.
In exchange for Title X, the FCC would refrain from regulating net neutrality by using Title II of the Communications Act, which many advocates of aggressive Internet regulation, including the President, have supported.
Even with the threat of a Republican-controlled Congress going its own way, “the FCC acting as soon as possible is our best opportunity to get rules back,” said Lewis, with Public Knowledge.
Either way, the FCC is in for a big legal fight as it continues its attempt to implement and enforce stronger net neutrality rules that have been challenged in court multiple times. (With reports from PC World, Washington Post, Huffington Post)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend December 27-30, 2014 Sec. A pg.7)
