Yesterday, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has approved the new version of Net Neutrality. The result is that now in the USA Internet connections, including mobile ones, are seen as a public utility, such as electricity and water. The new rules, approved by a 3-2 majority, have the purpose of preventing the emergence of a double speed Internet. Internet service providers can’t block or even selectively slow down traffic and web applications to those who don’t pay.
As expected, the FCC commissioners voted according to their political affiliation. The FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the other two Democrats commissioners voted in favor while the two Republican commissioners voted against it. The new rules have reclassified the Internet by including it among telecommunications services, which are part of public utilities such as electricity and water. They are governed by rules that prevent offering preferential services for a fee.
When the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the previous version of Net Neutrality, at the beginning of 2014, a fight started to decide the new rules on the Internet. Providers such as Comcast, Verizon and AT&T wanted broadband to become a service to be freely sold at the conditions decided by them. Other giants of the field of technology, supported by the US President Barack Obama, were calling for a new form of Net Neutrality.
The economic interests are huge and got intertwined with the political ones. The providers who opposed Net Neutrality used the typical rhetoric of the Republicans, which appeals to free market and oppose any regulation. They are the same people who are happy when the rules allow them to find loopholes to pay very little taxes.
The FCC vote was greeted with joy by consumers organizations because a double speed Internet would lead to higher costs for users. Organizations such es the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), which defends civil liberties in the digital world, welcomed the new Net Neutrality as well.
With the new rules, companies such as Google and Netflix won’t have to pay providers to prevent their streaming services from getting filtered. However, the battle is not over yet because it’s possible that at least some operators decide to resort again to legal action. The situation of the Internet in the USA has a strong influence on the rest of the world so there’s will still be a global interest for future developments.
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