Net Neutrality
More often than not there is always is going to be regulations on what can and cannot be transmitted over the internet. Net neutrality is the concept of freedom of information on the internet. In a case Verizon Communications vs. FCC, the court held that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) can stipulate to states to set rates for new leases onto Internet provider servers in order to gain access to the Internet.
According to Verizon Communications Inc. “The … rate … be … based on the cost … of providing the … network element” can only mean, in plain language and in this particular technical context, the past cost to an incumbent of furnishing the specific network element actually, physically, to be provided, as distinct from its value or the price that would be paid for it on the open market. At the most basic level of common usage, “cost” has no
such clear implication. A merchant asked about the “cost” of his goods may reasonably quote their current wholesale market price, not the cost of the items on his shelves, which he may have bought at higher or lower prices. When the reference shifts into the technical realm, the incumbents are still unconvincing. “Cost” as used in calculating the rate base under the traditional cost-of-service method did not stand for all past capital
expenditures, but at most for those that were prudent, while prudent investment itself could be denied recovery when unexpected events rendered investment useless.”
However, the critics of such regulation argue that the government is violating their First Amendment rights, more specifically, the Freedom of Speech. Individuals are upset that the FCC, is treating the Internet like a local access networks, rather than a large entity that the Internet truly is. When the Telecommunications Act was voted in law in 1996, it required that the FCC treat the network owners as common carriers, thusly, making it
impossible for them to block what was being put onto the Internet via their network. Additionally, it prohibited network owners from blocking certain forms of information that they might find distasteful.
What these network owners failed to realize that the FCC saw was that net neutrality was good for business. Having a network where new and upcoming business can post in forums to assist each other helps bolster the
local communities as well as the economy in those areas. And without this landmark decision of net neutrality, businesses and websites such as Google would have never been started and is now the largest source of information on the Internet.
Net neutrality greatly reduces the challenges that pose as barriers of entry to new businesses and entrepreneurial activities. This is due to the fact that net neutrality ensures the internet is a leveled and fair field
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