The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the U.S. telecom regulator, has agreed to reinstate net neutrality rules. By its own admission, the FCC aims to ensure a fast, open and fair Internet.
The FCC board voted three to two in favor of the proposal to reinstate net neutrality rules. The two dissenting votes came from Republicans. The rules will take effect 60 days after registration in the Federal Register.
All broadband Internet connections should be treated equally again after the reintroduction of net neutrality. Internet is thus seen as an essential service, with like water and electricity.
Internet providers are no longer allowed to interfere with content by slowing down the connection. They also may not block legal content. Furthermore, they will also be prohibited from pre-pulling certain content for a fee.
Jessica Rosenworcel, chairman of the FCC, says of the reinstatement, "These net neutrality rules make sure you can go where you want and do what you want online without your Internet service provider making choices for you. They make it clear that your ISP does not have the right to block websites, slow down services or censor online content."
With the restoration of the law, the FCC will have more direction over Internet service providers and this will benefit public and national security, Rosenworcel told CNN(1). This direction also allows the FCC to prohibit ISPs from sharing US citizens' personal data with tech companies.
The net neutrality rules were introduced by the FCC in 2015. Internet providers were seen as utilities from then on. As a result, they were not allowed to throttle traffic nor give priority to paying parties. In 2017, however, many net neutrality rules were reversed under the influence of Donald Trump.
That led to many protests at the time from civil rights groups and companies because abolishing it would be harmful to consumers and Internet freedom. Major Internet companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon and Reddit even organized a joint protest called Battle for the Net. They called for the preservation of an open Internet.
To no avail, however, and the then FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, pushed forward by Donald Trump, pressed ahead with his plans.
Joe Biden had long planned to reinstate net neutrality rules. In 2021, he tried to push the FCC to do so with an executive order. However, it wasn't until October 2023 that Democrats gained a majority on the FCC's five-member board. This made it possible to implement Biden's order and restore net neutrality.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/25/tech/net-neutrality-is-back/index.html
