I’ve written in the past about the development of the Internet and the Web as a commercial enterprise, and how keeping it free of government regulation works best. But now comes the term “Internet Neutrality” and a court ruling that brings a queasy feeling to my stomach.
‘Net Neutrality in this case means that everyone who jumps on the information highway travels at the same speed toward his or her destination.
That’s what the Federal Communications Commission would like in order to shape its vision of the Web.
But the outcome of Comcast Corp. v. Federal Communications Commission creates this scenario: Internet service providers can decide which of their clients can navigate the Web quickly and which will be routed to a slow-moving, single lane of traffic.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit (District of Columbia) ruled unanimously that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate Comcast’s network management practices.
This case is complicated and involves all kinds of issues — from percentages of Internet service provider subscribers to previous ruling involving cable and phone service giants.
But to me, it appears to be a “damned either way” for consumers.
With a federally unregulated Web, commercial interests will set the rules, and we know how that scenario can work out.
But the alternative remains creeping government regulation of the Web, and we know that once government gets its foot in the door with regulation, that regulation grows and never goes away.
I am not a fence-straddler, and so that gut reaction I mentioned earlier leads me to the position that the court is right on this one. The FCC overstepped its bounds, and less government regulation is better than more.
If you disagree after sampling some the links in the “Resources” section that follows, I’d like to know.
Resources:
- www.npr.org/…
- http://techcrunch.com/2008/08/31/…
- http://gigaomcom/2010/04/09/…
- www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/…
- www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/24/…
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9jHOn0EW8U…
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH_k0skYseQ
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd0YrhKrjJU
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