[At-Large] FCC TO SCRAP NET NEUTRALITY

Sun Dec 10 18:37:32 UTC 2017

On 12/14, the FCC will consider a Declaratory Ruling, Report and Order, and
Order that will increase the cost of Internet service while reducing
Internet Freedom by classifying broadband internet access service as an
information service, and not a public service. They will reinstate the
private mobile service classification of mobile broadband Internet access
service, allowing internet service providers to significantly increase
fees. The item also will eliminate the Commission’s Internet Conduct
Standard, allowing private service providers the ability to limit service.
Additionally, it will remove the transparency rule thereby eliminating
additional transparency safeguards, while adding burdensome and unnecessary
requirements. (WC Docket No. 17-108)

The issue is how might this policy impact the ability of ICANN to carry out
it's mission? What does this say about other policy proposals likely to
come from this body, given the extreme nature of this move, that have the
potential to impact ICANN?

A significant portion of internet traffic travels through US domiciled
companies. These firms operate under the laws of the United States, and
this fact is independent of the location of servers or other assets,
including DNS related assets. This specifically includes rules and
regulations issued by the FCC. It is also independent of the requirement
that these firms operate under the laws of other countries. Indeed, having
created the technology, one can argue that it is the United States that
leads the world with respect to rules and regulations that govern the
internet. This FACT may not sit well with some on this list, but these are,
again, the facts. (Speaking of this list, I note that one problem is the
lack of familiarity with the english language. While canadian english and
american english appear close, there is a very specific subset of american
english - regulatory american english - that most appear unfamiliar with.
This lack of an ability to effectively translate and understand what is
actually being discussed in american internet policy documents may give
rise to inaccurate assessments of the relevance of certain policies.)

Another issue is the inability to interpret the implications of policies.
The issue is what this policy signals about future policy from this agency
and the impact of these easily anticipated policies on ICANN. WIll the FCC
propose to ban (eliminate DNS access) for some or all muslim websites?
Believe it or not, this has been suggested privately. (This, by the way, is
one benefit of sitting approximately 2.7 miles away from the FCC HQ as I
type.)  A focus of bylaws, suggested by people who had a hand in writing
those bylaws, is far too narrow to be consistent with ICANN's mission. This
is why DECADES of experience are irrelevant in the current environment.
This is a volatile, fast moving set of policies, unmoored from any
consideration of history (think Jerusalem) or the public interest. Under
these conditions, referring to legacy experience is not only unwise, it is
damaging. (Ask Kodak or Blockbuster how well they were served by DECADES of
experience.)

The monocultural nature of this discussion is another problem. I don't
recall seeing a lot of goat herders or bus drivers on this list. The
commenters I see in this thread are all persons with a stake (authors,
internet consultants, policy professors at university, etc.) so they can
certainly be said, factually, to have an interest. We also have to factor
in the receipt of any and all internal good and services, including
reputational compensation, a discussion I will bring up with the
ombudsman.  Further, in my decade of monitoring this list, I don't recall
seeing a lot of non-majority people. ICANN has admitted that cultural
diversity is an issue for a "bottom up" organization that claims to
represent the interest of all internet users. It is also a factor in this
discussion.

On the same day that the FCC will remove protections, I note that ICANN is
having an At-Large Consumer Safeguards Briefing Webinar. No agenda for this
meeting has been posted yet.

On Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 12:31 PM, Kris Seeburn <seeburn.k at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> *Trump’s FCC Chair, Ajit Pai, just released his plan to kill net
> neutrality.*
>
> Pai’s plan scraps the legal requirements underpinning Title II regulations
> and opens the door to internet slow lanes and monopolies over broadband
> networks.1
>
> And Pai has scheduled a December 14 vote—just three weeks from now—to
> approve his plan.
>
> Pai has said that he believes that Big Cable should regulate itself when
> it comes to the free and open internet.
>
> *But even with net neutrality rules in place, companies such as Verizon,
> AT&T, and Comcast have broken the regulations over and over and over.* In
> just two years, the FCC has received more than 40,000 net neutrality
> complaints from consumers.2
>
> If Title II protections are allowed to be overturned, we will go back to
> the days when Big Cable throttled websites based on what internet companies
> paid, blocked traffic to sites that competed with their own services, and
> redirected sites without user permission—all with impunity.
>
> Kris
>
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