Bernie
Sanders has recently posted a meme on Facebook saying that “The path to a free
and open Internet is to reclassify it as a telecommunications service so that
we can ensure equal access to and for all.”
That
may seem odd, given the high prices of some telecommunications today, such as
cell phones. But here’s what’s going on.
So
far, we’ve had it pretty good here in the US. We have enjoyed what's called net neutrality, because the FCC has protected us. Now,
that protection has been threatened. On January 14, Verizon has won an appeal against
the FCC in a Federal Appeals Court in Washington, DC. This means that in the
near future, carriers like Verizon may decide to charge for different amount of
bandwidth. Wealthy persons and corporations could soon be given greater access
to the internet than the rest of us. Ordinary people may find their service
slowing way down if they cannot afford to pay top dollar for premium services.
US
Circuit Judge David Tatel explained, “Given that the commission has chosen to
classify broadband providers in a manner that exempts them from treatment as
common carriers, the Communications Act expressly prohibits the commission from
nonetheless regulating them as such.”
This
stems from the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which distinguished
between telecommunication providers and information providers. The FCC can regulate
common carriers, as the law is now written, but they cannot regulate the
information providers.
“Without
prompt corrective action by the commission to reclassify broadband,” said
Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner and a Common Cause adviser, “this
awful ruling will serve as a sorry memorial to the corporate abrogation of free
speech.”
