Net Neutrality Pros And Cons

Net Neutrality is a concept that defines access to the internet and all the information offered on the web as a human right without any discrimination. Meaning that internet service providers (ISPs) cannot and should not restrict access to any online content or show any favoritism to any online source above others. The debate over net neutrality has a long-standing history. To begin we must understand classifications of communication services un the Communications Act of 1934. Title I of the Communications Act pertains to information services, whereas Title II pertains to telecommunication services. In the early 2000’s access to the internet was viewed as an information service rather than a telecommunications service, and due to this the …show more content…
In 2006, the first attempt to update the Communications Act to include a reference to net neutrality was considered by the Senate, but it ultimately failed. Later, in 2008 the FCC set a precedent that ISPs should not prevent their customers from accessing online services by ordering Comcast to stop throttling Bittorrent traffic on their network. Following these events, the U.S. Court of appeals overturned the FCC’s order against Comcast claiming the FCC had no regulatory power over ISP networks. In response, in 2010 the FCC issues the Open Internet Order which banned ISPs from preventing access to certain websites. However, this was overturned yet again in 2014 from the D.C. Circuit Court claiming that the FCC did not have the authority under Title One of the Communications Act of 1934 to enforce the Open Internet rules as broadband services where still classified as an information service instead of a telecommunications service. The D.C. Circuit endorsed the FCC’s attempts to regulate broadband however, it reiterated that the FCC had no authority over ISP networks if they were classified as an information