It's a potent playlist of regulatory oversight, and it's officially dropping November 20th! That's when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially enters its net neutrality guidelines into the Federal Register, a move that will almost certainly be greeted with a fresh batch of lawsuits and opposition.
At a top level, net neutrality would make it illegal for ISPs to impose limitations or prioritizations on specific sites, domains, apps or platforms. That also includes throttling of pipe-hogs like BitTorrent, though the FCC will allow broad-based, network-level throttling to manage bandwidth.
In other words, no content-specific discrimination or favorable treatment, and the FCC would have the ability to referee disputes and monitor compliance. Which is exactly the problem: ISPs hate that level of meddling, and there's a real question about whether this governmental layer is required. After all, ISPs feel that they should have the ability to surgically monitor and throttle bandwidth to preserve speeds for paying customers, instead of imposing some dumb, network-level slowdown.
And, opponents also note that most customers are having few problems with the status quo. An extremely high-bandwidth consumer or nefarious website may have a gripe, but for the most part, ISP subscribers can send and receive whatever they want—at optimal speeds.
All of which suggests a problem that may be more imagined than real. But don't tell that to certain corners of the music industry: proponents of net neutrality include independent consortium A2IM, which is moving to protect the right to access any artist website or media delivery. Perhaps it's a liberty we take for granted.
But the guidelines also face a very difficult path in Congress, and Obama has indicated that he will not sign the rules as currently drafted.
At a top level, net neutrality would make it illegal for ISPs to impose limitations or prioritizations on specific sites, domains, apps or platforms. That also includes throttling of pipe-hogs like BitTorrent, though the FCC will allow broad-based, network-level throttling to manage bandwidth.
In other words, no content-specific discrimination or favorable treatment, and the FCC would have the ability to referee disputes and monitor compliance. Which is exactly the problem: ISPs hate that level of meddling, and there's a real question about whether this governmental layer is required. After all, ISPs feel that they should have the ability to surgically monitor and throttle bandwidth to preserve speeds for paying customers, instead of imposing some dumb, network-level slowdown.
And, opponents also note that most customers are having few problems with the status quo. An extremely high-bandwidth consumer or nefarious website may have a gripe, but for the most part, ISP subscribers can send and receive whatever they want—at optimal speeds.
All of which suggests a problem that may be more imagined than real. But don't tell that to certain corners of the music industry: proponents of net neutrality include independent consortium A2IM, which is moving to protect the right to access any artist website or media delivery. Perhaps it's a liberty we take for granted.
But the guidelines also face a very difficult path in Congress, and Obama has indicated that he will not sign the rules as currently drafted.
