The FCC has finally voted on Net Neutrality, and as of earlier today, the commission has approved having the government step in to regulate how the Internet operates. Not surprisingly, the commission passed it 3 votes to 2, along party lines.
While supporters are certainly celebrating this vote, it might be too early to declare any actual victory. First of all, the rules won’t take effect until the summer at the earliest. Prior to then there is little doubt that telecom companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable will challenge the new rules in courts. Even if everything goes smoothly in that area, very little will change immediately and if a Republican takes office in 2016 elections this could all get rolled back before anything significant gets done anyway.
Ignore the Hype
If you listen to supporters of Net Neutrality, you will hear lots of celebrating and comments about how this will ‘save the internet’ by stopping big ISPs from slowing down small sites and services in favor of big sites that pay extra fees. If you listen to opponents of Net Neutrality, you’ll hear disappointment and claims that the government has set the ball rolling toward destroying the Internet through excessive regulation. They may also be saying that the ISPs will stop laying fiber and other network improvements as ‘retaliation.’
The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle. For most people, there will be no real change in how they use the Internet. There was little (if any) real throttling of Internet speeds by the ISPs so far, so Net Neutrality was more of a preventative step than anything. The bill that passed really doesn’t give the FCC too much power either, so those who oppose the move are overestimating the ‘destroying’ that the government is going to be doing. Finally, as much as ISPs may want to, they will not stop laying fiber. They need to remain competitive, their share holders require it.
So, whether you are a supporter or an opponent of Net Neutrality, enjoy your day (or mourn it) as you will but don’t put too much stock in this. The ‘fight’ is far from over and if there is one thing we can say with certainty, the Internet is always changing and improving, and Net Neutrality won’t have much of an impact on that.
