Question

Net Neutrality Read four (4) academically reviewed articles on Net Neutrality and complete the following activities:

(Wikipedia articles will not be accepted. Professor may check originality of all posts. Avoid copy-and-paste.

1. Summarize all four (4) articles in 300 words or more. Please use your own words. No copy-and-paste

2. Base on your article review and the assigned reading, discuss how net neutrality will affect data networks and the availability of information to businesses. Do you believe net neutrality will lead to IT efficiency? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Net neuclarity article 1:

Advocates for net neutrality won a symbolic victory Wednesday when the Senate voted 52-47 to preserve Obama-era regulations that require internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally.

But the resolution also requires passage by the Republican-controlled House and Donald Trump’s signature to be enacted – an unlikely outcome before the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules goes into effect next month.

Deemed “the most important vote for the internet in the history of the US Senate” by author Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, the resolution would reverse the FCC’s December 2017 repeal of net neutrality rules that were put in place in 2015.

The rules bar internet service providers (ISPs) such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from interfering with internet traffic by picking and choosing which types of data get sent quickly, and which types are either throttled or blocked. Without net neutrality rules in place, ISPs could discriminate against certain publishers and web services, while promoting others.

Net neutrality has been championed by congressional Democrats, who hope that their support of an open internet will appeal to young voters. Three Republicans – Senators Susan Collins of Maine, John Kennedy of Louisiana and Lisa

repeal as a “brazen giveaway at the expense of American families and citizens”.

Opponents such as Senator John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, said the Senate’s vote amounted to “political theater” with no prospects of approval by the GOP-controlled House.

A similar resolution in the House, authored by Congressman Mike Doyle, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has garnered 162 co-sponsors, all Democrats.

At a press conference following the Senate vote, Doyle announced that he would also open a discharge petition in an effort to force a vote on the issue. A discharge petition is a procedure to force a debate and vote on a bill despite the opposition of the speaker of the House. It requires signatures from a majority of the House, or 218 members.

. The FCC said in repealing it last December that it was simply restoring the “light-touch framework” that has governed the internet for most of its existence.

Thune urged Democrats to work with him on a plan that he said would incorporate the net neutrality principles they desire without onerous regulation that he said made it harder to connect more Americans to the internet and to upgrade service.

He said the internet thrived long before the Obama administration stepped in, and he predicted that when the Trump administration’s rule scrapping net neutrality goes into effect in June, consumers will not notice a change in service.

“That’s what we’re going back to: rules that were in place for two decades under a light-touch regulatory approach that allowed the internet to explode and prosper and grow,” Thune said.

Article 2:-

What repealing net neutrality means for internet entrepreneurs.

To understand the impact of this upcoming decision, we need to start with the actual proposed plan and what it's replacing. That story begins in 2015 when President Obama took an earlier fight over net neutrality in a better direction for entrepreneurs. At his urging, the FCC approved a net neutrality rule to broadly regulate Comcast, AT&T and other internet service providers (ISP's) as a utility or "common carrier." That rule, which is what the FCC will vote to repeal, prevents ISPs from selling "fast lanes'' to the highest bidders and expressly bans throttling, blocking and paid prioritization.

The net neutrality rule guarantees speed of access is equal regardless if a prospective customer is visiting your ecommerce site or Amazon. The rule took how the internet has always worked and made it the law of the land, harkening back to the way Americans think about other utilities like water and sewer, landline phones, natural gas and electricity. You and the bigger business next door with more cash receive identical electric service.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's plan includes a substantial rollback of the regulations that impacted ISP's in 2015. Specifically, it would not hold ISPs to the same "common carrier" standard, allowing them to throttle access to certain content and media, and create multiple tiers of service. It would basically allow for the creation of slow and "fast lanes" on the internet for specific content.

Pai calls this "light touch" regulation and claims it will result in more competition that benefits the consumer. However, given the spotty broadband access in the US now, it's unlikely the free market will trigger price wars outside of urban areas. Consumers and businesses outside of major markets are likely to be exactly where they are today, without real alternatives when choosing their ISP.

Article 3:-

A CONGRESSIONAL EFFORT pushed by big online companies to promote net neutrality through an obscure legislative tool ignores a simple truth: It will not permanently protect a free and open internet and will continue to leave millions on the wrong side of the digital divide. Rather than spending time on a legislative Hail Mary with virtually no chance of becoming reality, Congress should come together to develop a comprehensive bill that levels the internet playing field for all Americans.

Following the December vote by the Federal Communications Commission to repeal Title II regulations on the internet, a group of congressional lawmakers proposed repealing the order by using a device called the Congressional Review Act. That law gives Congress the power to nullify rules enacted by federal agencies via a simple majority — making it immune to filibusters and congressional debate.

Prior to 2017, the Congressional Review Act had only successfully been invoked once. And while it has recently been used to repeal a number of Obama-era rules, much to the dismay of progressives, it has never been used to establish substantive policy that affects virtually every American.

But while lawmakers and tech giants have claimed that using a Congressional Review Act would restore net neutrality, it would actually do nothing to strengthen net neutrality rules and expand opportunities for all Americans to participate in a truly open internet. Even in the unlikely event that the effort passed Congress, the Trump administration would likely respond by issuing a new set of rules, thus prolonging today's ping-pong regulatory cycle and leaving an uncertain future for consumers and broadband providers.

Article 4:-

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats narrowly won a vote on Wednesday to save so-called net neutrality rules that ensure unobstructed access to the internet.

The Senate passed a resolution in a 52-47 vote to overturn a decision last December by the Federal Communications Commission to dismantle Obama-era rules that prevented broadband providers like Verizon and Comcast from blocking or speeding up streams and downloads of web content in exchange for extra fees. The commission’s repeal of net neutrality is set to take effect in a few weeks.

The rare victory for Democrats is sure to be short-lived, with a similar resolution expected to die in the House, where Republicans have a larger majority. Only three Republican senators voted in support of the resolution.

But that’s beyond the point. The effort to stop the repeal of net neutrality rules is part of a broader political strategy by Democrats to rally young voters in the November elections.