Net Neutrality Battle Heats Up Again

President Obama, Acting Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Copps, unconfirmed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and some U.S. senators say they support network neutrality. The problem, as always, is that it is tough to define what that is, and what it means.

Most people would agree that it means no blocking of legal content, or degrading of the content of rival services by Internet service providers. But many worry that "network non-discrimination," which might very well wind up on the list of FCC "Internet freedoms," could prohibit many forms of network managment.

Those principles include the freedom to access legal content, use lawful applications, attach personal devices and obtain service plan information. "Network non-discrimination" would become the fifth principle.

Few would quibble with the notion of Internet “openness,” so that consumers can freely access third-party applications, for example, without the fear that the broadband network provider will deteriorate or degrade the transmission to these third-party applications and services in favor of their own applications and services.

In that sense, network neutrality aims to prevent anticompetitive conduct; a worthy goal.

But while preventing anticompetitive conduct sounds sensible enough, it is also possible for a network neutrality rule to have the intent or effect of “commoditizing” broadband transmission and Internet access services by limiting the ability of broadband service providers to differentiate their service offerings from those of rival firms, say analysts at the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies.

In principle, if no "packet discrimination" is permissible, then it might not be possible for service providers to provide different broadband access products, ranging from simple, lower-cost "best effort" services to other tiers of service optimized for voice, video, gaming or real-time services, as doing so might require slowing down other low-priority applications at times of congestion to preserve optimal quality for the priority services.