Executive Summary
This policy brief puts forward the point of view of the Broadband application provider regarding the open internet rules proposed by the FCC. The broadband application providers support the open internet rules, which states that the internet should be transparent, access to it should not be blocked and it should be free from unreasonable discrimination. This rules will allow broadband application providers to provide their content to all the users without unnecessary blocking by the ISPs. This policy brief first describes the FCC's idea of the open internet. Secondly, it describes the problems faced by the broadband application providers due to irregularity in the open internet rules. Thirdly, it provides an overview of the current policies and the point of view of other groups. Finally, it concludes with prescriptions to the open internet rules.
I. Introduction
With the rapid development of the Internet and making its presence in all tasks that we perform today, the role of ISP’s has changed from just a service provider to an attendant who monitors, who can access its infrastructure [1]. This has given rise to concerns about how the ISP’s are going to strategize in charging for accessing the content on the internet. As a result, the term open internet was evolved.
a. What is Open Internet?
Internet is the system of interconnected computers and devices that use TCP/IP protocol suite to connect devices across the world. To extend this concept, ‘Open Internet’ is the internet where broadband Internet Service providers (ISP) are supposed to treat all the data flowing through the internet in equal manner. They are not allowed to discriminate between different applications and application provider’s traffic. Tim Wu,...
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...et is with other neutral networks like the electricity grid [2]. The neutral electric grid does not care if you have plugged in a computer, a refrigerator or a bulb. This nature of the electric grid has made it extremely useful and an innovative field today. Tim Wu, the inventor of Web, did not ask anybody’s permission when he invented he web [3]. And now billions of people are using it freely.
The policy prescriptions suggested will provide equal opportunity to all the broadband application providers to reach the consumers. Application providers can be charged on the basis of the infrastructure resource (bandwidth) consumed and ISP should keep all the broadband application providers in the same bucket of priority. This will prove to be beneficial to the broadband ISPs as well as the consumers and will be fruitful in preserving the openness and freedom of Internet.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 can be termed as a major overhaul of the communications law in the past sixty-two years. The main aim of this Act is to enable any communications firm to enter the market and compete against one another based on fair and just practices (“The Telecommunications Act 1996,” The Federal Communications Commission). This Act has the potential to radically change the lives of the people in a number of different ways. For instance it has affected the telephone services both local and long distance, cable programming and other video services, broadcast services and services provided to schools. The Federal Communications Commission has actively endorsed this Act and has worked towards the enforcement and implementation of the various clauses listed in the document. The Act was basically brought into existence in order to promote competition and reduce regulation so that lower prices and higher quality services for the Americans consumers may be secured.
In recent years net neutrality has become a hotly debated topic. Canadian consumers have favored legislation protecting net neutrality and Canadian telecoms have sought to change the legislation. In this case, Canadian consumers have it wrong. Canada should strike down its legislation regulating how internet service providers behave and move to a more open market. The current legislation forces all Canadian internet service providers to treat all traffic equally. This stifles competition and reduces consumer options.
The history of the internet takes us back to the pioneering of the network and the development of capable technologies. The explosion of the internet’s popularity of the 1990’s was large and dramatic, boosting our economy and then helped to bring it into a major recession. One can only hope that the explosion becomes organized and slightly standardized in the interest of the general public. Despite all of these conjectures and speculations only time can tell the future of the largest network in the world.
I remember the first time I sat on a computer; it was an IBM with a windows 98 installed. We didn’t have Internet connection at the time, and we mainly used our computer for work. The Internet has been around for almost half a century, it has helped us humans communicate easier, get around the world accessibly and exchange goods and services effortlessly. The Internet helped us facilitate a lot of tasks; in the past we had to do a lot of work to get something we needed. Nowadays all of what we can possibly want can be done with a click of a button. The Internet can enhance some of our cognitive abilities; understand thoroughly what we want to know, new concepts and different ways of acquiring knowledge and eventually sharpen our brains to live better.
Schmidt, E. E., & Cohen, J. (2014, March 11). The Future of Internet Freedom. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from
Supporters of a new, regulated internet suggest that the federal government take control of the internet. Tom Wheeler from the Federal Communications Commission suggested a new age of online regulation, stating that the Internet has become so crucial that it needs a category similar to any other public utility so the government has more ability to regulate it (“A Plan to Treat Web”). This would make the internet equivalent to electricity or water, forcing consumers to pay for how much they use, and the speed at which they want the access. The necessary move to regulate internet plans to safeguard consumers and businesses from Internet Service providers trying to boost their profits by selling preferential treatment to some websites for speedier delivery of their videos and other content. Although the FCC would not have the ability to regulate the prices consumers pay like they do with land-line service. (A Plan to Treat Web”). This ensures that customers will not pay unfair prices compared to other consumers, although they wonder whether or not this will ring
"In the year 2018, the Internet has now reached a global scale of immense proportions; just in the United States, it is now in almost 99% of our homes. Thus, this influence raises the question, how far should the government be involved in monitoring the internet? With the most recent Net Neutrality issue, the government has now become tangled with constant debate about free market. However, because of society’s personal involvement with the network, it is my firm belief that the government should be involved to some minimal degree when it comes to protecting the people’s privacy.
The internet is a big place. Its importance is often misunderstood, as it connects millions of people and ideas around the world. As such, it’s inarguably the biggest capital hub for innovation the human race has ever seen. Unfortunately, this hub is being threatened; big-name American internet service providers (ISPs) are considering making it so that content producers have the option to pay a hefty fee to let users access their website quicker, called the “fast-lane”. This fast-lane essentially prioritizes content made by large corporations who can pay this fee, and weeds out all the small indie ones who can’t, massively reducing the diversity of content on the web.
o Intramodal competition exists among a very few number of wireline broadband providers that serve business customers at various business districts. o Competition between these broadband network providers and a number of independent application service providers. • The most important thing that might affect the above areas is the entry of a third party broadband network to compete with the broadband networks of the local telephone company and the cable operators. • Also, several cable operators wanted to take complete charge of the home wireless services and they did so by banning the various Wi-Fi equipment.
Technology has advance so much since the old days. We see technology everywhere but one major thing that has change since back then into now has been the internet usage. Believe it or not internet is being used everywhere. First, it was used in desktops now is on laptops, cellphones, and tablets and even on TV and Video games. Internet, is very bad for society but three major reasons why is bad is due to many deaths, creating health issues, and bullying.
The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) defines open internet as “… the internet as we know it. It's open because it uses free, publicly available standards that anyone can access and build to, and it treats all traffic that flows across the network in roughly the same way. The principle of the Open Internet is sometimes referred to as ‘net neutrality’.” In this sense, the FCC acknowledges that the internet is supposed to be free and public, and no private company has the power to monopolize it. However, in the past months the FCC also was trying to pass a proposal that would end net neutrality and allow internet providers to control the internet data flow and divide it into slower and faster lanes.
Accessing the cyberspace is the first right should be granted in order to have privilege of and exercise the rest of the human rights on the internet. The internet has a very big impact in people’s life and what they have become today, especially with all the opportunities this medium provide for them to exercise their basic human rights. It has allowed the freedom of many voices to be heard in ways that was merely impossible before this revolution. Not only it has given people the rights to express and associate, but also the right to education as it allows to access many educational materials. In fact, accessing this virtual place has become a necessity to fulfill many other human rights including the right to work, and the right to take part in country’s government. Therefore, internet access should be a public right that ensure information and internet accessibility, usability, and availability for all people regardless of gender, place, and income.
When it comes to the topic of net neutrality, most scholars agree that it is harmful to the advancement of the internet. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of the extent of the ISP’s power to regulate the internet. Whereas some scholars are convinced that net neutrality is paramount to the internet’s growth, others maintain that the internet service providers have a right to regulate the very service they provide. This paper explores reasons for maintaining net neutrality and the power ISP’s should have while also asserting that net neutrality is essential for users to spread unhampered information without interference.
In our society, there has been a revolution which competes that of the industrial revolution. It is called technological revolution. At the top of the technological revolution is what we call, the Internet. In the following report we will be discussing about what the internet is about in general and how it might be in the future, why it is necessary in our everyday lives, and why has it become so important to everyone (i.e. companies, individuals ).
The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The Internet enables communication and transmission of data between computers at different locations. The Internet is a computer application that connects tens of thousands of interconnected computer networks that include 1.7 million host computers around the world. The basis of connecting all these computers together is by the use of ordinary telephone wires. Users are then directly joined to other computer users at there own will for a small connection fee per month. The connection conveniently includes unlimited access to over a million web sites twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are many reasons why the Internet is important these reasons include: The net adapts to damage and error, data travels at 2/3 the speed of light on copper and fiber, the internet provides the same functionality to everyone, the net is the fastest growing technology ever, the net promotes freedom of speech, the net is digital, and can correct errors. Connecting to the Internet cost the taxpayer little or nothing, since each node was independent, and had to handle its own financing and its own technical requirements.