The discussions of Net Neutrality are still very much current in the media and with US lawmakers. Although the FCC, led by Chairman Ajit Pai, voted to partially repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order in December of 2017, classifying Internet access once again as an information service, there is considerable information and future plans that have yet to be disclosed with the public. While the general vote and extremely brief overview (https://www.fcc.gov/restoring-internet-freedom) was provided to the US public, we are still in the dark in regards to future plans regarding Net Neutrality rules. We still do not know if “Internet Fastlanes” will appear or if ISPs will eventually begin to introduce tiered packages and discriminate network traffic based on content or the producer. The only real information the FCC has provided in regards to these issues was the satirical video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFhT6H6pRWg) where Ajit Pai addressed some of these concerns, but was heavily criticized as Pai seems to be mocking those who fear the removal of Net Neutrality laws.
The dismantling of the Obama-era administration Internet regulations are still ongoing, and there is considerable resistance from not only the public and public advocacy groups, but also from many legislators, particularly Democrats. Additional steps are being taken to ensure that issues, such as the notion of “Internet Fastlanes”, are properly brought to legislative boards. The “Open Internet Preservation Act”( https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/files/2017/12/net-neutrality-bill.pdf?tid=a_mcntx), proposed by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) in late December restores two of the most important provisions of the FCC’s net neutrality rules: a ban on the blocking of websites, as well as a ban on the slowing of websites. It also includes the same public disclosure requirements Internet providers must abide by under the FCC’s decision December of last year. Unfortunately, the bill lacked any information in regards to ISP paid prioritization that was included in previous Net Neutrality regulations.
Later this month, The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on internet fast lanes, a major source of concern for Net Neutrality supporters and a point where bipartisan agreement has failed in the past. This is a main area concern that has seen disagreement from both sides of the political spectrum and is arguably one of the largest turning points for how the internet, on the large scale, in an economic sense. Despite such discussions, Democratic and Republican conflicts on the issues of Net Neutrality continue to occur. Despite strong support from Republicans, many support the notion of replacing net neutrality rules with stronger and permanent legislation, “They argue that codifying the principles into law will end the regulatory uncertainty that the telecom industry faces with the prospect that the rules will change every time the White House switches parties.” However, Democrats are unhappy with this since Republicans currently have the majority, and “believe that any bill that a GOP-dominated Congress can come up with will be toothless compared to the 2015 regulation”
Additionally, lawmakers in Massachusetts are pushing for a state solution to fill in the several potential gaps left by the removal of the Obama-era regualtions. According to an article by Government Technology, “A proposal by a special Senate committee Wednesday, backed by dozens of lawmakers, seeks to promote net neutrality through state contracts and protect consumer privacy by barring internet service providers from collecting, using or disseminating personal data without consent. It would also create a registry of service providers who do business in Massachusetts and prohibit practices such as “throttling” down the speed of some internet content while prioritizing content from those who pay more.” The bill is aimed to get ahead of any future regulations that may be implemented by the FCC and the federal level and provide added regulations to provide the public with added security.
Looking to the future, we should advocate for change for Net Neutrality where bipartisan agreement can be found and ensure that major issues such as specific network throttling and consumer rights violations are properly addressed when creating new regulations on Net Neutrality.