By Sarah O’Connor, Staff Writer
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could be changing the way the internet is regulated on Dec.14. The FCC plans to dismantle the net neutrality regulations on internet providers.
According to Grace Donnelly, author of the article “How Eliminating Net Neutrality Will Change Your Experience on the Internet,” FCC Chief Ajit Pai plans to rescind the open internet rules that were in place before the Obama-era policy. Pai was appointed by President Donald Trump in January.
The internet without net neutrality means that large internet companies could favor their business interests, according to Donnelly. Service could be divided into fast and slow lanes depending on an individual’s internet provider and its own interests. Content providers could choose not to pay a fee, which would result in service providers making their content slow. Additionally, individuals might have to pay separately for different packages, like ones for social media, gaming and others. It could cost more money depending on the individual and their needs.
Pai wrote on Twitter Nov. 14, “Today, I’m proposing to repeal the heavy-handed Internet regulations imposed by the Obama Administration and to return to the light-touch framework under which the Internet developed and thrived before 2015.”
In the “Statement of Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K Ohlhausen on Restoring Internet Freedom and Returning FTC Competition and Consumer Protections to Broadband Subscribers,” Ohlhausen said, “I am pleased to see progress on this important matter. The FTC has long applied its competition and consumer protection expertise to network neutrality issues.”
Steven Salzberg in “When The FCC Kills Net Neutrality, Here’s What Your Internet Could Look Like,” said that the “vote isn’t in doubt.” He notes that, with Pai in charge, “the anti-neutrality votes have a 3-2 edge.”
According to Zacks’ Equity Research, which wrote “FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules: Who Benefits the Most,” the biggest argument for eliminating net neutrality is that less regulation would result in more investment and more competition between internet service providers. Pai even noted that it could benefit consumers and increase the number of Americans with internet access.
The pitfalls of the breakdown of net neutrality have resonated with the people and companies more than the potential benefits of ending net neutrality. Forbes’ Steven Salzberg refers to the idea as a “nightmare,” saying that “virtually everyone hates this idea except the cable companies themselves.”
Brittany Morin, a student at USM, said, “The process supports monopolies.”
Colby Willis, a media studies senior who is well versed in net neutrality issues, does not support the end of net neutrality.
“I believe that the infrastructure of the United States internet providers isn’t high enough quality to provide this service,” Willis said. “I think this will certainly lead to websites having to pay raised prices, as well as an increased control of the internet by internet service providers. This will end up with the customer suffering, as prices might have to rise, advertising on websites might have to raise to pay for service they have already, and internet startups will have a greater barrier for entry.”
According to Jacob Kastrenakes, author of “Reddit, Twitter, and 200 others say ending net neutrality could ruin Cyber Monday,” about 200 businesses and trade organizations have signed a letter to speak against the FCC to reconsider their plan to end net neutrality. The big tech and web companies include Airbnb, Automattic, Etsy, Foursquare, GitHub, Pinterest, Reddit, Shutterstock, Tumblr, Twitter and others.
The letter says, “An internet without net neutrality protections would be the opposite of the open market, with a few powerful cable and phone companies picking winners and losers instead of consumers.” It notes that the end of net neutrality could ruin economic growth for smaller companies, and force bigger companies like Netflix to pay more for people to use their services.
Willis said, “I can only see the gutting of net neutrality as a negative that will negatively impact everyone but the internet service providers who will profit by taking fistfuls of money from everyone else.”
John Oliver broke down net neutrality on Last Week Tonight in 2014 and again last May. He celebrated the openness of the internet saying, “The internet is the repository of all human knowledge — and goats singing Taylor Swift.”
According to Donnelly, other countries like Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, and more have no net neutrality rules and internet packages are available. According to Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik, author of “Portugal’s internet shows us a world without net neutrality, and it’s ugly,” Portugal’s warnings of the dismantling of net neutrality shows a grim reality. National regulators open loopholes that permit “zero-rating” where internet service providers exclude services from data caps, preventing Portuguese users from certain content.