Who will be hit hardest first? Experts weigh in<\/b>
\nAfter months of public debate and legislative resistance on the left, net neutrality as we know it ends today. The Federal Communications Commission\u2019s (FCC) overturn of net neutrality rules, which were enacted in 2015, prohibited internet service providers from offering in unequal access to web content.
The FCC voted to repeal the rules in December 2017 in a 3-2 vote along party lines. The unraveling of these regulations has indeed been a partisan issue \u2014 nearly all Democrats are pro\u2013net neutrality, and the mission to end them was led by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. In May, Democrats banded together in one last attempt to block the overturn when they filed a discharge petition, which, under the Congressional Review Act, would allow for a Senate vote. This initiative, which did not pass the House, would have prevented the overturn from taking effect today, June 11.
\u201cAs a result of this inaction, starting today internet service providers (ISPs) have the power to force websites to pay fees for faster internet speeds and limit consumers\u2019 ability to access the internet content of their choice,\u201d California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. \u201cIn this 21st century global economy, access to a free and open internet is imperative. It has become a hallmark of our American society,“ he continued.
On Sunday, the night before the official overturn, Pai celebrated with an op-ed on CNET.
\u201cMonday, we are ending this flawed approach and allowing smaller internet service providers to focus their efforts on deploying more broadband, connecting more Americans with digital opportunity, and offering more competition in the marketplace,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThat approach will be very positive for consumers.\u201d
Yet critics have been openly worried that this will harm customers, not help. Amber McKinney, who writes about telecommunications and serves as Assistant Managing Editor at the legal publication Law360, explained to Salon changes at first will be subtle \u2014 but as before, it is difficult to predict what will happen.
\u201cNet neutrality is officially dead, but users shouldn’t expect to log on and see a vastly different internet landscape overnight,\u201d she said to Salon. \u201cThe changes are expected to be less predictable, and possibly a bit more subtle at first.\u201d
If a consumer\u2019s ISP is expected to make a change, the consumer will have to be notified first, McKinney said.
\u201cThey are required to alert subscribers of that fact before they implement data throttling or blocking access to websites, or any of the other changes that are possible in a post-net neutrality America,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter that there are just no guarantees about what happens. Users could see some sites loading more slowly as service providers start charging companies for fast lanes and slow lanes of internet traffic.\u201d
In December, after the FCC voted to overturn the regulations, many speculated that ISPs will offer tiered-packages like those in Portugal. For example, an ISP could charge $25 for a basic Internet access, and then ISPs could add extra charges for additional services like streaming video or using social media. Currently, the U. S. has 62 ISPs, including big names like AT&T Wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile, Xfinity (a Comcast product) and U. S. Cellular.
The other bit of speculation concerns what ISPs will do to companies who generate a lot of traffic, or have features that require a lot of bandwidth. This could result in blocking or throttling. ISP conglomerates have publicly said they don\u2019t have plans to take advantage of the overturn, though it is hard to know how much to trust them at this point, given that this is the politically popular public position to take; indeed, AT&T, Verizon and Comcast said in January they did not plan on blocking content.
Analysts at Moody\u2019s Investors Service said in December that they believed that ISP companies will \u201ctread lightly\u201d as a result of fear of bad publicity.
„We believe ISPs, namely Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Charter, will tread lightly when it comes to engaging in paid prioritization and throttling, as there could be significant negative public reaction to these acts,\u201d several analysts wrote in a co-penned note. \u201cAt least in the near term, the cost of negative publicity on their existing businesses far outweighs the benefit of additional revenue streams these companies can generate from paid prioritization agreements.\u201d
McKinney said larger internet companies could be the first the feel the effects of today\u2019s overturn though.
\u201cWhile all of this is hard to predict, some sources have been telling Law360 that companies with heavy internet presence may be the first to feel impacts from the rollback,\u201d she said. \u201cThe line of thinking is that ISPs may approach companies to like Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix to negotiate fees to keep their sites at top speeds.\u201d
\u201cThose agreements may take time to negotiate, and after it all shakes out consumers may see the changes to their service,\u201d she added.
Before 2015, there were instances in which ISPs took advantage of an Internet without net neutrality rules, which is what helped pave the way for Obama\u2019s net neutrality rules. In 2007, Jon Hart of California, sued Comcast for allegedly blocking him from using the peer-to-peer application BitTorrent. In 2012, AT&T limited the use of Apple\u2019s Facetime feature on their phones, in an attempt to save bandwidth.
In the meantime, some state policymakers are taking matters into their own hands regarding the officiated overturn. Washing state and Oregon have passed state laws that are similar to the 2015 laws that have been repealed. California passed a bill in May to reestablish, too. There are several other states who have tried and failed, or are in the process of enactment.
\u201cThe repeal of #NetNeutrality rules goes into effect today, but this fight is not over,\u201d Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., tweeted . \u201cHouse Democrats are trying to gather support to force a vote to save Net Neutrality just like we did in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

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