I. Introduction
Bill Chappell documented the FCC’s monumental ruling in favor of net neutrality on February 26, 2015. With this ruling, the FCC reclassified broadband access as a telecommunications service and therefore a common carrier, in turn applying Title 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Title 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 makes it unlawful for any common carrier to “make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services” (47 U.S. Code § 202). The ruling was a groundbreaking decree that ensured the Internet would become and remain free and open. It also ensured ISPs would be unable to control the Internet for their own personal …show more content…
Common carriage, for example, extends back as far as the Roman Empire (Noam). However, net neutrality itself is a relatively recent point of discussion. In 2003, Tim Wu, then Associate Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, coined the phrase “net neutrality” in a definitive essay titled Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination. In this, net neutrality is considered “an end” and open access is considered “a means to that end” (Wu 145). On September 23, 2005, the FCC issued the Internet Policy Statement that set out proto-net neutrality regulations for ISPs (Timeline). To reiterate the importance of issuing, on November 6, 2005, AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre proclaimed “Anybody who expects to use pipes for free is nuts!” (qtd. in Timeline). In this proclamation, the importance of net neutrality was unconsciously affirmed by the CEO as one can easily infer that ISPs want a profit cut from each website just to reach their customers …show more content…
It becomes apparent that advocates of net neutrality are gaining momentum and the public is no longer standing idly by. On August 1, 2008, the FCC issued an order to Comcast reprimanding the ISP’s behavior and prohibiting it from throttling the data traffic of BitTorrent (Timeline). This could be seen as a major milestone for the FCC in the fact that it could finally make the principles laid out in the Internet Policy Statement into something meaningful and impactful. On September 18, 2012, in violation of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, AT&T blocked FaceTime on the mobile network of subscribers unless these subscribers entered into a “Mobile Share” plan (Timeline). Public interest groups such as Free Press, Public Knowledge, and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute quickly notified AT&T of their intent to file a formal Open Internet complaint to the FCC. Due to the increasing pressure from the public interest groups, on January 16, 2013, AT&T agreed to end the blocking of FaceTime
Bill Chappell documented the FCC’s monumental ruling in favor of net neutrality on February 26, 2015. With this ruling, the FCC reclassified broadband access as a telecommunications service and therefore a common carrier, in turn applying Title 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 to Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Title 2 of the Communications Act of 1934 makes it unlawful for any common carrier to “make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services” (47 U.S. Code § 202). The ruling was a groundbreaking decree that ensured the Internet would become and remain free and open. It also ensured ISPs would be unable to control the Internet for their own personal …show more content…
Common carriage, for example, extends back as far as the Roman Empire (Noam). However, net neutrality itself is a relatively recent point of discussion. In 2003, Tim Wu, then Associate Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, coined the phrase “net neutrality” in a definitive essay titled Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination. In this, net neutrality is considered “an end” and open access is considered “a means to that end” (Wu 145). On September 23, 2005, the FCC issued the Internet Policy Statement that set out proto-net neutrality regulations for ISPs (Timeline). To reiterate the importance of issuing, on November 6, 2005, AT&T CEO Edward Whitacre proclaimed “Anybody who expects to use pipes for free is nuts!” (qtd. in Timeline). In this proclamation, the importance of net neutrality was unconsciously affirmed by the CEO as one can easily infer that ISPs want a profit cut from each website just to reach their customers …show more content…
It becomes apparent that advocates of net neutrality are gaining momentum and the public is no longer standing idly by. On August 1, 2008, the FCC issued an order to Comcast reprimanding the ISP’s behavior and prohibiting it from throttling the data traffic of BitTorrent (Timeline). This could be seen as a major milestone for the FCC in the fact that it could finally make the principles laid out in the Internet Policy Statement into something meaningful and impactful. On September 18, 2012, in violation of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, AT&T blocked FaceTime on the mobile network of subscribers unless these subscribers entered into a “Mobile Share” plan (Timeline). Public interest groups such as Free Press, Public Knowledge, and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute quickly notified AT&T of their intent to file a formal Open Internet complaint to the FCC. Due to the increasing pressure from the public interest groups, on January 16, 2013, AT&T agreed to end the blocking of FaceTime