The FCC is getting ready to save the open Internet

Feb 26, 2015 13:05 GMT  ·  By

The fight for Net neutrality is finally over after months of going back and forth between actually taking measures that will protect the open Internet and measures that would financially protect broadband providers.

The members of the Federal Communications Commission, also known as the FCC, are gearing up to vote on the proposed Net neutrality rules, which are to regulate broadband providers more heavily than before, stopping them from throttling with people’s connections in order to restrict their download speeds or from bullying Internet companies into paying for better network connections.

Now, months later, the FCC is finally on the verge of voting on the final plans. These involve reclassifying broadband as “telecommunications services,” which means it will be more like a traditional telephone service, a utility if you will.

Following the new rules, Internet providers will be banned from blocking or slowing traffic, as well as from signing any deals with content companies for better delivery of traffic to consumers. The FCC is also expected to review interconnection deals, such as the ones begrudgingly signed by Netflix last year with Comcast.

A little history

It’s been nearly a year since this entire scandal began, since the FCC’s freshly appointed Chairman Tom Wheeler came with a proposal that annoyed everyone. The former lobbyist for the telecom companies initially wanted to allow ISPs to create so-called fast lanes, basically charging big companies for faster network access. As many have argued since then, this would have created an imbalance in the tech community since companies that were just starting out wouldn’t afford to pay for the privilege.

The tech community geared up and united forces in an unprecedented effort and protested against the plans. Advocacy groups followed suit and organized dozens of protests against the FCC. In the end, there were a record 4 million comments forwarded to the FCC regarding net neutrality, most of them asking for proper protections. President Barack Obama also intervened and set down some guidelines regarding how his administration promised to protect Net neutrality and what was to be done.

Plenty of support

A few days ago, Twitter has announced its support for FCC’s Net neutrality proposal. In a blog published earlier this week, the company said they believe that the new rules are clear and sustainable and will ensure the Internet remains open and continues to “give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers.”

Others have expressed the same support, including Netflix, a company that was at the center of one of the biggest scandals regarding Net neutrality in the past year after it revealed that it was bullied into signing peering deals with Comcast and other service providers after its connection was throttled with and customers started leaving due to poor Internet connections.

There’s a general feeling of joy among those who have fought the FCC over the net neutrality rules. The folks over at Fight for the Future, a group of Internet activists that have organized countless protests over the past year, are preparing to celebrate the victory.

“The cynical anti-net neutrality hearing this morning is a three ring circus that no one wants to buy tickets to. Everyone knows that the tides have turned. Even opponents of net neutrality and free speech are finally admitting defeat as the FCC prepares to vote on rules that–just one year ago–were thought to be completely impossible. DC insiders, lobbyists, and pundits would do well to take the word ‘impossible’ out of their vocabulary. When Internet users learn that the free and open Web is being threatened, they’ll stop at nothing to defend it, and when the Internet comes together to fight, nothing is impossible,” said Evan Greer, Fight for the Future campaign director.