There’s no app for the hottest of hot buttons—“Net Neutality.”
Buried under reassuring news about BP and intriguing news about Wycliff Jean, the news could have slipped right past preoccupied techies, imperiling them more than they might realize until the prime time had passed. Either hidden on page 7 or tucked away in the business section, the headline read “FCC Suspends Closed-Door Hearings on Net Neutrality.” In other words, FCC officials announced on Thursday that they are resuming nationwide open hearings on control of and access to the best internet bandwidths. The FCC is, in effect, soliciting public support for its attempts to curtail the biggest service providers’ allocation of prime network space to their preferred content providers.
For alert, aware, forward-looking technophiles, this innocuous little headline ought to feel more urgent and riveting than the release of iPhone 4.
Net neutrality is the nation’s most urgent technological issue.
Techies no longer can snooze in civics class, because it’s all about the Constitution and government regulation. Techies might want to Google “anti-trust regulations.” Forget all the fuss and folderol about Apple vs. Microsoft and Google against the world. Forget about earnings reports and death grips, terra-bytes and flash players. The next bitter, brutal, and ultimately life-changing high-tech controversy has absolutely nothing to do with micro-chips, semi-conductors or friendly interfaces. The next high-tech controversy has more to do with the First Amendment than first-to-market and far more to do with lawyers than engineers. If techies have not already parsed and mastered the term “net neutrality,” they should move vocabulary study and free-speech advocacy to the tops of their favorite automated to do lists.
Technical Glossary: “Net Neutrality”
“Net neutrality” refers to cable owners’ and service providers’ commitment to allow all content streamers equal access to their networks without preference or constraint. Currently, the biggest owners and operators—notably ComCast, At&T, and Cox Communications—assure their neutrality as a matter of good faith and their compliance with broadcast regulations that require them to “operate in the public interest.”
As the FCC rolls-out the Obama administration’s national broadband and wireless plan, however, questions of legal authority and preference have arisen. The national plan, for example, mandates that medical facilities, law enforcement agencies, and all first responders have unlimited nationwide access to a wireless emergency service, encrypted and accessible only through a series of tight security screens. Fiber-optic and wireless operators question whether the FCC has authority to mandate creation of that network. More importantly, they remain reluctant to give-up their premium network spaces without some quid pro quo. Sources close to FCC negotiations with the big providers have suggested that the FCC and the corporations are close to a deal that will give owners and operators most of what they want. Populists and content-providers are crying foul, objecting especially to the fact that these negotiations have continued behind closed doors and without public hearings. Hence, the FCC’s hasty retreat.
Senator Franken sounds the alarm.
Speaking to Congress on Friday, Senator Al Franken put it as bluntly as anyone ever will express it: “Net neutrality may sound like a technical issue, but it’s the key to preserving the internet as we know it — and it’s the most important First Amendment issue of our time.” No equivocation. No hesitation. No hyperbole.
