Net Neutrality Repeal: FCC Rollback of Open Internet Protections

Overview

Net neutrality is the principle that your internet service provider must treat all internet traffic equally — that Comcast cannot make NBC content load faster than Netflix, that Verizon cannot throttle YouTube while promoting its own video service, that AT&T cannot block access to a VoIP service that competes with its own phone business.

The Trump FCC repealed those protections in December 2017.

Why It Matters

The internet's architecture of open access has been the foundation of its economic and cultural power. Startups can compete with established companies because their packets travel at the same speed. Small media outlets reach readers without paying for premium delivery. The absence of gatekeeping has been essential to the internet's role as a platform for free expression.

Net neutrality rules existed because ISPs have strong business incentives to become gatekeepers. Without rules, Comcast — which owns NBC Universal — can rationally charge more for Netflix's traffic, which competes with Comcast's own Peacock service. AT&T can promote its DirecTV subsidiary's streaming service by throttling competitors.

The Repeal's Defenders

Pai argued that the 2015 rules chilled investment in broadband infrastructure by subjecting it to utility-style regulation. The data did not support this: broadband investment had increased in the years the rules were in effect, and multiple major ISPs had publicly told investors the rules had not affected their capital expenditure plans.

The repeal was, at its core, a transfer of power from users to ISPs — removing the legal requirement that ISPs provide the equal access that users depended on and that had enabled the open internet's growth.