Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC)

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is a set of rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which say Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, and Verizon, cannot block, throttle, or prioritize certain content on the Internet.

1. U.S. FCC votes to maintain 2017 repeal of net neutrality rules  Reuters
2. FCC reaffirms order rolling back net neutrality regulations | TheHill  The Hill
3. FCC Affirms Net Neutrality Repeal in Answering Court Questions  Bloomberg Law
4. FCC Affirms Net Neutrality Repeal 10/28/2020  MediaPost Communications
5. OTI Condemns ‘Unhinged’ FCC, Urges Restoration of Net Neutrality  YubaNet
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

Biden win could curb deals, revive net neutrality in FCC pivot  The Bozeman Daily Chronicle FCC Preps Order Affirming Net Neutrality Repeal 10/06/2020  MediaPost Communications Broad Coalition Urges Court Not to Block California's Net Neutrality Law  EFF Split FCC Sticks With 'Net Neutrality' Rollback  Law360 The Race to Bury Net Neutrality  CircleID Order Responding to Net Neutrality Court Decision Circulated for Consideration at FCC's October Meeting  Lexology Pai Says That FCC Has Fulfilled Conditions of Court's Net Neutrality Order  RadioResource Media Group FCC chairman stands by net neutrality repeal after appeals court ruling  Reuters FCC Drops Appeal, Will Provide Data About Net Neutrality Commenters To New York Times 09/30/2020  MediaPost Communications US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION VOTES 3-2 TO LEAVE 2017 NET NEUTRALITY REPEAL UNCHANGED AFTER COURT RULING -- MEETING  Marketscreener.com Biggest names in net neutrality join fight to save California law  Benton Foundation Experts say Biden's FCC would restore net neutrality, avoid price regulation  S&P Global EU Court Considers Net Neutrality Law for First Time and Restricts Use of “Zero-Rating” Internet Packages  Lexology It's Opposite Day At The FCC: Rejects All Its Own Legal Arguments Against Net Neutrality To Claim It Can Be The Internet Speech Police  Techdirt Cantwell vs. tech giants - POLITICO  Politico FCC GOP OKs Order On Remand Reaffirming 'Internet Freedom'  Radio & Television Business Report But given a chance to make right what it got wrong, today the FCC doubled down on the mess it made.  Governing State Public Works Board Denies PUD Grant Request for Broadband Expansion  Centralia Chronicle Facebook’s Top Public Policy Executive in India Steps Down  The Wall Street Journal Hotstar launching in Singapore on Nov 1, signs Net Neutrality-violating pact  MediaNama.com [BC-MCT-BUSINESS-BJT] | Business | bozemandailychronicle.com  The Bozeman Daily Chronicle Feds move to block California’s net neutrality law  The Verge What to Know in Washington: Senate Set for Vote Today on Barrett  Bloomberg Government Net Neutrality Challenge Tests States' Power Over Net Traffic  Bloomberg Law Who regulates social media?  TechCrunch FCC rejects calls from cities for more time to respond to net neutrality proceeding  The Verge U.S. appeals court will not reconsider net neutrality repeal ruling  Reuters 10 ways fintech, payments industry donors are betting on Democrats  PaymentsSource Fairfax County Task Force Pushes for Carbon Neutrality by 2040  Tysons Reporter US Justice Department Asks Court to Block California Net Neutrality Law  Voice of America Why Resolving Net Neutrality Issues Continues to Matter  No Jitter COVID-19 Crisis Shows Need For Net Neutrality Rules, Advocates Say 04/21/2020  MediaPost Communications Net Neutrality: How Recent Developments Could Affect Content Companies and IP Intensive Businesses  IPWatchdog.com The Legal Debate Over Net Neutrality Shifts to State Laws  Lexology Europe’s top court says net neutrality rules bar ‘zero rating’  TechCrunch California Urges Judge To Leave Net Neutrality Law In Place 09/21/2020  MediaPost Communications The Covid-19 Pandemic Shows the Virtues of Net Neutrality  WIRED FCC To Study Impact Of Net Neutrality Repeal 02/20/2020  MediaPost Communications The FCC Wants to Hear More About Net Neutrality  Benton Foundation New York State Legislator Introduces a Very Bad “Net Neutrality” Bill  EFF Starving the News  Washington Monthly INSIGHT: Light at the End of the Net Neutrality Tunnel  Bloomberg Law California's bid to impose net neutrality on wireless companies faces long odds  American Enterprise Institute Iliad wins EU antitrust okay for $4 billion Polish telecoms deal  Investing.com Tech industry asks U.S. court to reconsider net neutrality ruling  Reuters ‘Deficiencies’ that broke FCC commenting system in net neutrality fight detailed by GAO  TechCrunch Telecommuting to Avoid COVID-19? Thank the End of 'Net Neutrality'  Cato Institute Coronavirus Crisis Vindicates the FCC’s ‘Net Neutrality’ Rollback  The Wall Street Journal Why We Still Need Net Neutrality | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society  Benton Foundation The Year We Fought to Get Net Neutrality Back: 2019 Year in Review  EFF The court let the FCC kill net neutrality, here’s why  The Verge AT&T Violates Net Neutrality Principles With HBO Max, Lawmakers Say 06/05/2020  MediaPost Communications Will 2020 see a state-by-state return to net neutrality in the US?  TelecomTV Chamber Of Commerce Backs Bid To Block California Net Neutrality Law 08/24/2020  MediaPost Communications Tech Policy and the 2020 Election, Part 2: Online Speech, Net Neutrality, and Data Privacy - AAF  American Action Forum Internet providers are complying with net neutrality obligations, EU regulators report  Lexology Coronavirus crisis proves 'net neutrality' was a mistake, repeal was right move: Grover Norquist  Fox Business EU's highest court rules net neutrality is incompatible with 'zero tariffs'  ZDNet FCC Ordered To Disclose Data About Net Neutrality Commenters 05/04/2020  MediaPost Communications Court Upholds Net Neutrality Repeal, With Some Caveats  The New York Times Mozilla Drops Appeal of FCC Net Neutrality Decision  Benton Foundation US appeals court says it won't reconsider FCC's net neutrality repeal - Business Insider  Business Insider Net Neutrality Has Officially Been Repealed. Here’s How That Could Affect You.  The New York Times In Support of Maryland Net Neutrality Act | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society  Benton Foundation Jessica J. González: How Trump's attack on net neutrality created a legal mess for the entire internet  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Biden-Sanders Task Force Backs Net Neutrality, Municipal Broadband 07/10/2020  MediaPost Communications Is the Net Neutrality Repeal Saving Consumers Billions?  TechDecisions Biden's telecom platform hardens around net neutrality, universal broadband, 5G funding  Urgent Communications FCC Extends Deadline For Net Neutrality Comments 03/26/2020  MediaPost Communications What Is Net Neutrality? The Complete WIRED Guide  WIRED F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules  The New York Times FCC's Rosenworcel urges public to comment on net neutrality  FierceTelecom California Plans to Socialize Wholesale Internet Pricing via Net Neutrality  California Globe Killing Net Neutrality Was Even Worse Than You Think  OneZero FCC Urged To Extend Deadline For Net Neutrality Comments, Due To Coronavirus 03/17/2020  MediaPost Communications Comment Deadline Extended in Net Neutrality Proceeding | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society  Benton Foundation We need to prepare for internet of the future. Here's how Congress can help.  USA TODAY House votes to restore net neutrality rules  CNN Net Neutrality Gives Cities Some Flexibility  CitiesSpeak FCC rejects cities' extension request for comments on net neutrality rollback  Engadget 'Net neutrality' rules quietly fade away | Opinion | wiscnews.com  WiscNews Net Neutrality Repeal: What Could Happen and How It Could Affect You  The New York Times In the net neutrality debate, what might follow Mozilla v. FCC?  Brookings Institution What loss of net neutrality could mean for consumers, content providers  News@Northeastern California Will Have an Open Internet  The New York Times MEXICO - Net Neutrality and Zero Rating – Where is the Mexican Regulation of Network, ISPs and OTTs heading?  JD Supra Finding common ground on net neutrality  Newsday Reflecting On One Year Without Net Neutrality  Forbes The Tangled Web of Net Neutrality and Regulation  Harvard Business Review Net Neutrality Rules: FCC Publishes The Repeal Order, Lawsuits Begin : The Two-Way  NPR FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Says Rejecting Net Neutrality Was the Right Call  Barron's Defend Net Neutrality  State PIRGs Japan net zero emissions pledge puts coal in the spotlight  Climate Home Net Neutrality: Both Sides of a Heated Debate  Government Technology A Year Without Net Neutrality: No Big Changes (Yet)  WIRED Net Neutrality Goes Back To Court  NPR Net neutrality was repealed a year ago — what’s happened since?  The Verge Washington State keeps enforcing net neutrality as it hails FCC court loss  Ars Technica Net Neutrality Explained: What It Means (and Why It Matters)  Fortune

What is Net Neutrality?

Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content.

The term was coined by Columbia University media law professor Tim Wu in 2003, as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier, which was used to describe the role of telephone systems.

A widely cited example of a violation of net neutrality principles was the Internet service provider Comcast's secret slowing ("throttling") of uploads from peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) applications by using forged packets. Comcast did not stop blocking these protocols, like BitTorrent, until the FCC ordered them to stop. In another minor example, The Madison River Communications company was fined US$15,000 by the FCC, in 2004, for restricting their customers' access to Vonage, which was rivaling their own services. AT&T was also caught limiting access to FaceTime, so only those users who paid for AT&T's new shared data plans could access the application. In July 2017, Verizon Wireless was accused of throttling after users noticed that videos played on Netflix and Youtube were slower than usual, though Verizon commented that it was conducting "network testing" and that net neutrality rules permit "reasonable network management practices".

Research suggests that a combination of policy instruments will help realize the range of valued political and economic objectives central to the network neutrality debate. Combined with strong public opinion, this has led some governments to regulate broadband Internet services as a public utility, similar to the way electricity, gas, and the water supply are regulated, along with limiting providers and regulating the options those providers can offer.