What Net Neutrality Really Means And How To Protect Your Business

By now, you’ve heard the cries of anguish from all sides as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moves to reclassify internet service providers (ISPs) so that they fall under Title I of the Telecommunications Act. 

- Wayne Rash

Previously, they’d been classified under Title II. One side of the discussion is claiming that the FCC repealed net neutrality while the other side is claiming that the FCC restored net neutrality. Here’s what’s actually going on.

Back in 2015, the FCC, acting under instructions from the White House, voted on party lines to reclassify broadband internet and the ISPs that provide it from Title I of the Telecommunications Act to Title II. Title II is the part of the Telecommunications Act that regulates phone companies, and most of its provisions are either irrelevant to the internet or would place burdens that ISPs can’t meet. The FCC got around this problem by agreeing not to enforce those parts. Title I is for information services.

Under Title II, the FCC had the ability to regulate how broadband providers managed their traffic. This meant that they could prevent ISPs from placing data caps on internet users, throttling users, or charging extra for services they didn’t want people to use (such as competing cloud providers), and they couldn’t simply block access to sites they didn’t like. It also gave the FCC the authority to enforce such actions.

Under Title I, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does the enforcing for what it considers unfair or deceptive practices, including data caps, throttling, or other anti-competitive behavior such as blocking or charging extra for services the ISP doesn’t want you to use. The FCC still retains some control under Title I.

At the time this happened, the FCC was working with Congress to craft legislation that would provide net neutrality protections to the internet. That effort was abandoned.