Net Neutrality Goal Is No Easy Shot

In the protracted battle over net neutrality, it seems like the players have entered double overtime. In play since 2005, the game has pitted major phone and cable companies against Internet content providers and consumer advocacy groups. And after suffering several setbacks this year, the net neutrality team looks like it won’t be making any fast break attempts for a shot at a free and open Internet.

Who are the players? Net neutrality advocates believe that Internet service providers (such as AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon) should serve only as the pipes for data, not as gatekeepers that decide which content gets preferential service. Without net neutrality regulation, they see an end to equal access on the information highway. Instead, ISPs would allow their own content or that of the highest bidders onto the express lane. The loss of net neutrality, proponents believe, would stifle competition from the next eBay or Facebook.

Opponents of net neutrality, or “pro net competition” as NetCompetition.org labels it, defend their right to manage their own network infrastructure investments to serve their users and meet the cost of increasing bandwidth. They believe that preferential treatment may be necessary at times to provide the best customer service. If necessary, they want to be able to step in and limit a peer-to-peer file-sharing system that hogs bandwidth. After shelling out billions to upgrade their networks, they feel entitled to earn returns on those investments by offering premium services. More net neutrality regulations, they believe, would only squelch investment.

Where does the debate stand now? In September we saw Congress placing the ball firmly back in the Federal Communications Commission’s court after Republicans blocked legislative proposals led by Henry Waxman, Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and talks between consumer groups and telecom companies fell apart. The FCC will try to find a way to reclassify broadband services from information services to telecom services, which are subject to the agency’s authority.

Last year FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski tried to advance the ball toward the net neutrality goal. He proposed two new FCC rules to keep carriers from blocking or degrading lawful Internet traffic and to require more transparency about their traffic management practices. But in April the federal appeals court in Washington, DC, blocked any shot at enforcing those regulations in a decision that restricted the FCC’s authority over broadband service.

Meanwhile Google, once seen as the point guard for Internet freedom, seemed to pivot from its original stance and teamed up with former rival Verizon. In August the new teammates crafted a joint public policy proposal on net neutrality that sought a compromise by essentially imposing net neutrality on wireline networks but not on wireless networks. Net neutrality proponents cried foul, accusing Google of caving in to the interests of big corporations and ignoring the future of wireless networks. Google shot back that some “key enforceable protections for consumers” were better than none at all.

Rebounding from the latest setbacks may take some time for the “nothing but net neutrality” holdouts. The Waxman proposal supposedly followed the model of the Google/Verizon proposal, and net neutrality advocates such as the Open Internet Coalition would not support it. Without the needed political backing, net neutrality is in a time-out for the midterm elections. Waxman holds out some hope that “cooler heads may prevail after the elections,” although if Republicans take control of the House, any future legislation would likely favor the ISPs. Analysts predict that a negotiated settlement among the major players is still the most likely outcome.

As the debate drags on, followers of the game should expect no slam dunks soon by either side. Only a lot of dribbling.

Major Players in the Net Neutrality Debate:

• Amazon.com, Inc. - An early advocate of net neutrality, the world’s biggest bookstore said the Google/Verizon proposal appears to “condone services that could harm consumer Internet access.”

  
  

  
  

• AT&T, Inc. - In a public policy blog following the Google/Verizon proposal, the nation’s leading provider of wireline services pointed out that wireless carriers should be able to operate their networks without “burdensome, arbitrary and unnecessary regulations.”

  
  

  
  

• Comcast Corporation - The nation’s largest cable company, Comcast won a landmark victory in April after a federal court of appeals ruled the FCC lacked the authority to regulate its customers’ access to the file-sharing service of BitTorrent. The decision brought into question the FCC’s authority to advance its net neutrality rules.

  
  

  
  

• Facebook, Inc. - Led by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook slammed the Google/Verizon proposal. The social networking giant said it continued to support the principles of net neutrality for both “landline and wireless networks.”

  
  

  
  

• Federal Communications Commission - The FCC regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. In 2005 the agency adopted four principles relating to network neutrality that focused on consumers’ rights and competition between Internet providers. The FCC is now trying to find a way to regulate broadband delivery following the federal appeals court decision in April that restricted its authority.

  
  

  
  

• Google Inc. - The operator of the leading Internet search engine may have Googled itself for a defense after issuing the Google/Verizon proposal in August. The ensuing uproar forced the company to publish a blog defending its stance just three days later.

  
  

  
  

• IAC/InterActiveCorp. - Barry Diller, head of the Internet conglomerate that includes Ask.com, Match.com, and Evite, characterized the Google/Verizon proposal as a “sham.”

  
  

  
  

• Verizon Communications Inc. - The nation’s second-largest telecom services provider (after AT&T), Verizon played defense along with Google after issuing their seven-point plan on net neutrality. Although it also partners with Google on Android, Verizon denied the proposal was a business arrangement.