Net Neutrality - Part Deux (Updated)

by Dan Korvas

It appears our government is actually keeping good on their word to maintain net neutrality. This week, the FCC took initial measures that will support the open Internet rule and I could not be happier about this movement. As I have wrote about in the past with AT&T vs 4chan.org, net neutrality is something that I fully support and I wish that more people cared about what the impact would be should the ISPs have control of what (legal)content flows through their pipes.

On Thursday, the FCC Commission voted 5-0 to proceed with establishing a rule to allow the open Internet, and then voted 3-2 to approve the current language of the rules. The latter vote may seem confusing, but we have to remember that this is the Government we are dealing with. We will see more partisanship in the future regarding this final FCC rule, but the fact that the FCC is greeting the idea of net neutrality with open arms is reassuring to those of us who are pro-net neutrality. Now that this vote has taken place, the FCC will be taking public comments on January 14 regarding the issue, which they will review and ask for additional comments that are due by March 5, 2010.

So what this means is we should expect to hear plenty from the ISP powerhouses like AT&T and Comcast who do not want this rule to pass, and on the other end we will have supporters such as Google who want to maintain the open system of the Internet as it was originally intended.

UPDATE:

It appears that the debate on net neutrality has gained strength in the past 24 hours, with large media outles such as Reuters and the WSJ putting out articles regarding what both sides are saying about the issue. When our current president was running his campaign, he insisted that net neutrality was a big issue and he was a big supporter of maintaining an open stance on internet usage. Let us hope that he keeps his position.

Here are some new articles pointing out support for and against net neutrality:

Wall Street Journal
San Francisco Chronicle - In a surprise move, Google and Verizon issue a joint statement
Washington Post
Reuters - This is an article regarding John McCain and his support against net neutrality, and he has created a bill that is in the senate which is dubbed "The Internet Freedom Act." Really? Internet Freedom Act? I do not understand how it would be considered 'freedom' if it means that it gives ISPs the authority to control intnernet usage. However, it now makes sense as to why he put forth this bill..."Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is the top recipient of campaigncontributions from large Internet service providers like AT&T,Verizon and Comcast over the past two years."

Well, how do you like that...A bill created by a man that has claimed on record that he doesn't even know how to use a computer is trying to pass a law that will have an unprecedented effect on how the nation will be able to use this amazing medium.

UPDATED 10.24.2009