Net Neutrality
MAP has pressed for open Internet protections, or “network neutrality” for many years, urging the FCC to ensure that network operators do not block or slow down the transmission of certain types of online content. Until 2007, MAP’s fights have involved mostly theoretical interpretations of what net neutrality really means.
That year, however, Comcast was caught red-handed directly manipulating or blocking its subscribers’ access to BitTorrent, a file sharing service. Together with Free Press and Public Knowledge, MAP filed a petition pressing the FCC to conclude that blocking peer-to-peer communications like BitTorrent violates the agency’s “Internet Policy Statement” — four principles issued in 2005 that are supposed to guarantee consumers competition among providers and access to all lawful content, applications, and services. In response, the FCC made a decision in August 2008 to forbid Comcast from continuing these activities. Comcast appealed that decision at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In April 2010, the federal appeals court ruled in favor of Comcast and declared that the FCC did not sufficiently demonstrate that it has authority to regulate broadband access. This was a major blow to the Commission’s power to enact many of its future plans, including network neutrality regulations and an ambitious National Broadband Plan.
Behind the complex legal jargon of this case lies the fundamental definition of what is considered “reasonable” management of data and information on the Internet, our increasingly dominant communications platform. For broadband services to remain open to innovation and permit the widest public access, the federal government must implement rules to ensure that companies who control broadband networks avoid unfair, secretive, or opportunistic manipulation of online content.
To ensure that such rules are implemented, the FCC must have authority to regulate the provision of Internet access, as it regulates other communications platforms. MAP will continue to work with the agency to make sure that FCCauthority to oversee communications infrastructures is preserved.
A History of Net Neutrality and the Internet
- Prior to 2005: Telecommunications companies offering DSL service had to abide by “common carrier” rules, under Title II of Communications Act.
- June 2005: Supreme Court’s “Brand X” decision overturned a federal court decision that would have required cable companies to share their infrastructure with Internet service providers such as Brand X.
- August 2005: FCC reclassifies DSL as an “information service” under Title I of Communications Act; common carrier rules no longer apply to ISPs (now including DSL providers).
- September 2005: FCC releases its “Internet Policy Statement” in support of an open Internet; however, the policy statement is not a rule.
- August 2007: Comcast discovered to be blocking BitTorrent, a file sharing service, without notifying its customers. The instance is a demonstration of ISPnetwork manipulation in the absence of net neutrality protections.
- August 2008: FCC rules against Comcast, requiring the company to stop discriminatory network management practices that violate the Internet Policy Statement. Comcast soon appeals this decision.
- April 2010: The appeals court sides with Comcast and overrules the FCC’s 2008 decision, leaving Internet users without protections from harmful network management practices.
