Openness is the defining characteristic of the Internet. A high-speed connection is useful only if you can connect to everyone else online. This openness principle was built into the basic architecture of the Internet — leaving ultimate control over your Internet experience with you, the user.
However, there is currently no federal requirement to provide consumers with access to all the legal Internet services, applications and content they need and want.
Managing the Network
Some network operators are considering charging extra money depending on where you want to go and what you want to do online. Others are considering using technology that would sift through and filter the content that you share with others online.
Internet providers say they need to be able to better manage content in order to contend with increasing consumer demand for high-speed access. They also have spoken of the need to generate more income and new markets by creating new tolls on the information superhighway — whereby some content providers or makers would have the option of purchasing speedier and better quality service.
Legal Protections?
The result of these practices could lead to an Internet where control over information shifts from you — the user — toward the company that provides the connection.
This shift would be a fundamental change in the architecture of the Internet. The founding idea of the Internet was that every site should be accessible without discrimination. That’s how bloggers can compete with CNN or USA Today for readers. That’s how up-and-coming musicians can build underground audiences before they get their first mainstream hit. Ideas on the Web rise and fall on their own merits.
The question comes down to whether the ideal of openness requires a legal guarantee — and what kind. The network operators fear that too many openness requirements will inhibit their ability to innovate. But discrimination endangers the open and level playing field that has made the Internet so democratic.
Options for Openness
Private Industry. With increased user demand for broadband services, Internet service providers say they need more leeway in managing the flow of information on the Web and are experimenting with technology that allows them to filter, place quantity limits on and even block content. Providers have pledged not to block customer access to applications and content on the Web, but their customer
service agreements still give them the right to cut off any user’s Internet connection without explanation.
Federal Government. The Federal Communications Commission has a “Broadband Policy Statement” that guarantees consumers the right to access the content and applications of their choice. The federal agency recently used this statement to sanction a cable company that was blocking customers’ access to certain high-speed Internet applications. Many are calling upon Congress to pass stronger laws to safeguard consumers and protect against gatekeepers. Others fear that such laws would inhibit providers’ ability to manage their networks.
Local Communities. Many local governments and community groups have sought to build high-speed Internet networks with openness guarantees. Local governments and communities can also ask for openness guarantees when striking agreements with providers that need to access public land to build out commercial networks.
