How Did the Net Neutrality Debate Begin?

This issue of my blog will focus on what initially led to the net neutrality debate and briefly discuss one of the types of arguments used in the debate.

The net neutrality debate can be traced back to about 2005 when several complaints were brought against Internet Service Providers (ISP's) because they were found to be restricting what their customers could do.

The customers issued their complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and as a result of the complaints the FCC reiterated the basic principles that were set in place for how the ISP's were supposed to operate.

There were 4 basic principles that users were entitled to from the ISP's:

• Access content of choice and to be able to run whatever services or applications they chose
• To be able to connect whatever devices they wanted to
• Users should be able to benefit from the competition between the ISP's

There was no further action taken toward the ISP's at that time other than to reiterate the basic principles that were in place. However, from 2006 until the present time there have been several bills that have been initiated to either protect or promote net neutrality to date none of these have passed.

One of the arguments that has been used in this debate is the argument of “quality of life”. The “quality of life” argument is based on a moral value judgement. These type of value judgements can be stated explicitly or left implicitly.

Company Viewpoint:

• The openness and level playing field of the internet has been essential to the success of Amazon, E-bay, Facebook to name a few.

Cultural Viewpoint:

• The level playing field of the internet has allowed for cultural projects such as documentaries, books, blogs, and news to be circulated and available to consumers surfing the net.
• Librarians have been able to utilize the Internet in order to expand the services they offer and in turn better serve the community.
• The internet is viewed as an engine for free speech, civic engagement, and economic innovation.

As you can see from the viewpoints, the internet as a whole is seen as an engine for free speech and expression, political engagement, or as a business tool.

The ISPs have argued for  “network management,” in which they would be allowed to restrict speeds and Internet usage in the interest of maintaining their networks.  This is due to the ever increasing volume of traffic. In October of 2009, according to the Census Population Survey data, 63.5 percent of (75.8 million) of U.S. households use a high speed Internet Broadband service.  This represents a 25 percent increase from just two years earlier (50.8 percent in October 2007).

They have also indicated that if the Internet becomes fully regulated by the Government it could result in a reduction of innovation due to their shrinking revenue opportunities.

We can see that “quality of life” would be affected if there are restrictions imposed on access to the internet however we need to determine how we can best address these issues.  

Below is a link that provides an in depth look at this debate over the last several years. It is based on several videos and related articles from a PBS documentary with Bill Moyers.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/watch.html