Editorial

FCC action cements Internet's role as de facto public utility

Friday, February 27, 2015

The issue probably won't be settled for years, but the Federal Communications Commission came down on the side of "net neutrality" Thursday, voting 3-2 along party lines to prevent Internet service providers from giving some customers faster data speeds than others.

Basically, the new rules call for no blocking of legal content, no throttling or intentional slowing-down of some content or speeding up of other content, and no "paid prioritization" or assigning some content to a slow lane because the service does not pay a fee.

That wasn't an issue back in the days before YouTube and Netflix started using terabytes of data, but starting about 2005, there was evidence that some providers were manipulating traffic without telling consumers.

The FCC actually enacted open Internet rules in 2010, but the courts struck that action down, forcing the agency to make Thursday's vote.

The move requires providers to "act in the public interest" and not do anything "unjust or unreasonable" to hinder service. By treating the Internet like telephone service, the FCC can fine Internet service providers if they start blocking or slowing Web traffic. The FCC promises not to enforce price controls, but can do so if consumers complain that costs are unfair.

Verizon, for its part, released a statement, dated "February 26, 1934" and set in a font that appeared to have been typed through three layers of carbon paper:

"Today's decision by the FCC to encumber broadband Internet services with badly antiquated regulations is a radical step that presages a time of uncertainty for consumers, innovators and investors. Over the past two decades, a bipartisan, light-touch policy approach unleashed unprecedented investment and enabled the broadband Internet age consumers now enjoy."

Nebraskans generally give lip service to limited government and free market forces, but public utilities have served us well. We are the only all-public power state, and have some of the lowest electricity rates in the nation, despite criticism that we have not been aggressive enough in employing wind and solar energy.

The main corridor of the state, at least, benefits from Interstate 80 which, like the Internet, was built by the government out of concern for national defense.

Most of us balk at paying highway tolls if we can avoid them, and the majority of us drive to Denver rather than buying an airline or railroad ticket, although the government subsidizes those as well.

We do find we enjoy the light traffic and open pavement toll roads provide, and most of us would accept a free airline upgrade to first class if it were offered.

But like the electricity that arrives at our light bulbs when we flip the switch, most of us expect broadband service to be available when we turn on our computers. Let's make sure the FCC's new rules allow that to continue to happen without creating a new regulatory morass.

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