Net Neutrality

Once a government agency releases new rules and regulations various people and groups that think they may be affected start to read the regs to see what they may have to do and begin preparing. How many people in Second Life bother? Even with our ToS?

The American Action Forum dug out a jewel of information:

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) itself at least 90 percent of the businesses that will bear the burden of the new Title II (utility-style) network neutrality regulations will be small businesses. As part of doing its business, the FCC must identify the burden of new rules on small business. As it turns out, 20,640 companies will be affected, ranging from “Broadband Internet Access Service Providers supplied over client supplied connections” (1,274), to “Wireless Telecommunications Carriers” (1,383), to “Satellite Telecommunications Providers” (570), “Cable and Other Program Distributors” (2,048), and so forth.

The site American Action Forum has a number of articles explaining the details of Net Neutrality. The short take is there will be fewer ISP’s and that always means higher prices and worse service.

We know the new proposed rules being placed on the Internet  total 332 pages. So far, that is about all we know. This week the FCC voted to adopt those proposed rules (3 yea – 2 nea). As yet they have not published those rules.

A number of pundits on the Right are claiming the failure to publish the 332 pages is a continuing cover up. Well… yes and no. But, I am disinclined to believe those claiming this publishing delay is a big deal. 

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The FCC was placed in charge of radio signal broadcasting in 1934. It took over the duties of the Federal Radio Commission that licensed radio stations and that commission dated from 1927. Title II of the Communications Act, 1934, was based on concepts from taken from regulations regarding railroads…

That the FCC controls the technical side of communication is not all bad. Without some measure of control we would have people pushing their signals into our TV’s and radios. Or frequencies would be so congested we would never get a clean signal. So, it is not all bad. 

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It has been hard to get people to think about or research what Net Neutrality actually is. Also, few have noticed who is in favor of it. This video does a pretty good job of explaining it, except for free speech and government control aspects.

PS: If you haven’t heard of the Canadian Supreme Court ruling on healthcare see: The Canadian Supreme Court’s Ruling on Private Health Care. (2005) Text: Chaoulli v. Quebec.

We still do not have the words  from the 332 pages of FCC rules that will be implemented in the name of Net Neutrality. What we do know is that a channel of free communication is being placed under ancient FCC Title II rules that already restrict what can be said on radio and TV. More and more people are waking up to another governmental power grab creating a government monopoly that will increase the cost of Internet service and cell phone plans. (Reference)

Just as Americans for the first time are facing more of the actual cost of ACA (Obama-care) this tax season, 4+ years after its passage and the whole thing with 21 new taxes has yet to be fully implemented, in the next year we will start… and the keyword here is ‘start’, to see similar slow moving effects of the Net Neutrality change. 

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