FCC should approve rules to preserve open Internet

In January 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down some rules of the Federal Communications Commission designed to protect a free and open Internet.

The court’s ruling against portions of the Open Internet Order struck fear into the hearts of many who worried that without these protections, “net neutrality” would go by the wayside and the open Internet we’ve all enjoyed since its inception would be replaced by a system that would allow those who could pay, greater and faster access.

Net neutrality is the term coined for talking about ensuring that the Internet remains a level playing field and prohibits Internet Service Providers, known as ISPs, from blocking and discriminating against content.

A draft ruling proposed by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler would eliminate the risk of a discriminatory Internet.

That’s why, when the FCC votes at an open meeting Wednesday, it should approve the chairman’s proposal.

If the proposal is voted down, it could mean the death of the Internet as we know it.

I’ve witnessed the creation of the Internet in my lifetime and have seen it change the way we function. With the creation of social media, it’s being used to connect people, from friends who live near one another to strangers across the globe. It’s used to get news and entertainment, from finding out the latest government actions to what celebrities are up to. An Internet presence is vital to just about every business nowadays. And the Internet even plays an important role in politics, from President Barack Obama’s race to the White House to its use by revolutionaries elsewhere.

Without regulations ensuring net neutrality, it’s unclear how all these new ways of connecting with people and governments, of getting information and entertainment, and business innovation would be compromised.

Without regulations, ISPs could encourage a pay-to-play situation, where those laying out the most cash, or whose ideology they agree with, get preferential treatment.

Wheeler’s proposal wouldn’t allow that to happen.

It would ban throttling, blocking and paid prioritization, strategies that are used to create fast and slow lanes over the Internet, with some getting priority treatment.

When the appeals court struck down the FCC’s original Open Internet Order last year, it said the legal framework backing up that order was shaky.

Wheeler’s current proposal uses a different legal framework to back up the FCC’s authority to enforce net neutrality rules.

It hinges on reclassifying broadband Internet access service, the broadband service we buy from cable, phone and wireless providers, as a telecommunications service, that can be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act.

It would also apply to mobile broadband.

The protections to the Internet that Wheeler is proposing is no less than a triumph of the American public. Millions spoke up against Wheeler’s original proposal made shortly after the court’s ruling, which provided much more limited protections.

Wheeler said his new proposal is “the strongest open Internet protections ever proposed by the FCC.”

While the vote on net neutrality is getting all the hype, the commission will also consider on Wednesday something else that could affect communities across the country, including those right here in Maine. It will consider petitions by two municipal broadband providers asking that the commission preempt laws in North Carolina and Tennessee restricting communities from providing broadband service.

Articles written by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which were published in the Journal Tribune on Feb. 4 and 18, note that Time Warner Cable representatives have been wining and dining state legislators while also feeding them information favoring legislation mirroring what’s taken place in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Such legislation would hurt Maine where already two communities, Rockport and South Portland have created/or are in the process of creating municipal broadband systems.

Officials in some local communities have also toyed with the idea, while nothing concrete has taken place.

Municipal broadband providers can have an important role to play in Maine. Fletcher Kittredge, the founder and CEO of Biddeford-based ISP GWI, has said there isn’t enough incentive in the state for large cable providers to create high-speed broadband networks.

In addition to ruling in favor of Wheeler’s net neutrality proposal, FCC commissioners should rule to eliminate restrictions against municipal broadband providers.

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