Should Net Neutrality

Should Net Neutrality Be Restored?
The net neutrality rules adopted in 2015 regulated the internet as a common carrier, the same category
as telephone service, under Title II of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. [5] The FCC rules prevented
internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, slowing, prioritizing, or charging consumers extra money
to access certain websites. For example, under net neutrality rules, Verizon could not speed up access to
websites it owns, such as Yahoo and AOL, and could not slow down traffic, or charge extra fees, to other
major websites like Google or YouTube. [4]
On Dec. 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted (3-2) to overturn those net
neutrality rules and reclassified internet service as an information source, rather than a common carrier.
[1][5]
Many state attorneys general filed suit against the FCC decision, and the US Senate voted (52-47) to
approve a resolution to invalidate the decision. [6][25] Unless overturned by courts or legislative action,
the FCC’s removal of net neutrality rules will be officially implemented on June 11, 2018. [26]
Proponents of net neutrality say it preserves free speech on the internet by preventing ISPs from
blocking lawful online content. They also contend that ISPs should treat all internet traffic equally and
be prevented from engaging in anti-competitive behavior such as slowing down or speeding up certain
websites. In addition, they say that net neutrality protects consumers from being charged more to
access certain websites, such as online video streaming services.
Opponents of net neutrality say that internet service should be free from heavy government regulation,
and that the internet has evolved spectacularly over the last decades without net neutrality regulations.
They contend that net neutrality lowers investment in needed internet infrastructure. In addition, they
say ISPs should be allowed to charge extra fees to online content providers that use disproportionately
large amounts of bandwidth, such as video streaming services.
Con 1
Net neutrality regulations are unnecessary because the
internet developed amazingly well in their absence.Most large
internet companies including Google (1998), Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), and Twitter
(2006) were started and grew to success without net neutrality regulations. According to FCC
Chairman Ajit Pai, "the internet wasn’t broken in 2015," when net neutrality was implemented
and "it certainly wasn’t heavy-handed government regulation" that was responsible for the
"phenomenal development of the internet." [9] As FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly states
"periods without net neutrality rules were times of innovation and investment." [12] According
to economist John W. Mayo, the entire rationale for net neutrality ignores the "positive economic
outcomes in the provision of internet services that resulted from twenty years of light-touch
regulation." [32] As economist Gerald R. Faulhaber argues: "we have had a decade of experience
with broadband ISPs with little evidence of wrongdoing." [3] A 2017 statement from the Internet
& Television Association, signed by 21 large ISPs, stated they remain "committed to an open
internet" and "will not block, throttle or otherwise impair your online activity," once net
neutrality regulations are removed. [14]
Net neutrality created burdensome and overreaching

regulations to govern the internet. According to the bipartisan
Telecommunications Act of 1996, "the Internet and other interactive computer services have flourished,
to the benefit of all Americans, with a minimum of government regulation," and it should be the policy
of the United States "to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market... for the Internet and other
interactive computer services unfettered by Federal or State regulation." [32] In 2017, the FCC reported
that neutrality rules imposed significant and "unnecessary" reporting burdens on ISPs to prove they
were in compliance. For example, the ISP CenturyLink estimated that meeting the net neutrality rules
created over 5,000 hours of extra paperwork, costing over $134,000 each year. [10] In addition to being
burdensome for ISPs, net neutrality regulations exceed the FCC's authority. According to the editors of
the National Review, the net neutrality rules exceeded "the agency's statutory mandate," and "there is
no title or provision in the Federal Communication Act that gives the agency a clear mandate to impose
pricing and content-management rules on Internet providers, which is what net neutrality does.
Net neutrality reduces investment in internet services

resulting in less access and higher costs for consumers. Between
2011 and 2015, when neutrality rules were being debated by the FCC, the mere threat of implementing
them reduced ISPs investments in network upgrades by 20-30%, a $150-$200 billion reduction in
investment. [13] During the years that net neutrality rules were in place (2015-2017), investment in
broadband fell for the first time ever in a non-recession period. [10][28] According to AT&T, that "chilled
investment in broadband," threatened "to slow the delivery of broadband services to all Americans…
particularly in rural America where broadband investment is needed the most." [30] Net neutrality
regulations also prevent ISPs from charging large content companies (such as video streaming services)
additional fees to cover the costs of the massive bandwidth they use. Preventing such paid prioritization
fees places the costs of building the additional capacity necessary to carry the content onto ISPs, and
these costs will trickle down to consumers in the form of more expensive internet packages - which are
paid by all, even those who don't use the streaming services. [22]

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Should Net Neutrality Be Restored?

Net neutrality created burdensome and overreaching

Net neutrality reduces investment in internet services

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