SMALL BUSINESS NEWS

Nov 2017

 

Email this page    

 

New Net Neutrality Rules Changes Coming

The Federal Commmunications Commission (FCC) under new management plans on returning the Internet to a period when there was less regulations.  This is known as Net Neutrality.

From it’s inception over 20 years ago the Internet was allowed to flourished (under the Telecommunications Act of 1996) due to a hands-off approach by the government.  However, in 2015 that changed when the Internet was placed under heavy regulations.  The current FCC administration seeks to return the Internet back to an environment with less regulation.

During the period of less regulation the Internet thrived because Internet Service Providers (ISPs) invested approximately $1.5 trillion in building networks, and American consumers enthusiastically responded. The Internet became an ever-increasing part of the American economy, offering new and innovative changes in how we work, learn, and play, receive health care, create and enjoy entertainment, and communicate with one another. During that time, there was bipartisan agreement that the Internet should be free of burdensome regulation so that it could continue to flourish.

The 2015 decision to regulate the Internet as if they were utilities placed heavy regulatory burden on ISP’s and resulted in less investment in infrastructure.

The FCC has proposed to:

 

-Reinstate the "information service" classification of broadband Internet access service first established on a bipartisan basis during the Clinton Administration.

 

-Restore the determination that mobile broadband is not a "commercial mobile service" subject to heavy-handed regulation.

 

-Restore the authority of the nation's most experienced cop on the privacy beat – the Federal Trade Commission – to police the privacy practices of ISPs.

 

-Maintain the four "Internet Freedoms" include the freedom to access lawful content, the freedom to use applications, the freedom to attach personal devices to the network, and the freedom to obtain service plan information.

Those who oppose this change claims that the ISP’s will be able to control which websites gets faster access over the Internet.  The ISP’s claim that they will be able to offer services at different speeds and cost that can meet the needs of the consumer.

The comment period is over.  A final decision will be made soon.

Sources:
Federal Commmunications Commission (FCC)


By Wendy Stewart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

  
 

     

                  Report broken links               Contact us              About us           Become a Contributor to this site            Link Exchange 

© 2012-2015 The Small Business Zone, Inc.  All rights reserved.