Network neutrality? Not at the coffee shop

Network neutrality rules arrived just before Christmas, but they won't apply to Kindles, coffee shops, or dial-up Internet. And they won't apply to Google. The toughest rules apply only to "fixed broadband Internet access service," which can include fixed wireless links ("mobile" broadband has different, and even weaker, rules). Dial-up isn't covered, since "telephone service has historically provided the easy ability to switch among competing dial-up Internet access services" and the telephone network is still regulated under "common carrier" rules. But the Federal Communications Commission was at pains to make clear that the new rules will not apply to businesses that provide Internet access to their customers as an extra benefit. "We decline to apply our rules directly to coffee shops, bookstores, airlines, and other entities when they acquire Internet service from a broadband provider to enable their patrons to access the Internet from their establishments," the agency wrote, though it notes that the ISP providing the service to the coffee shop or bookstore does have to play by the rules. In these scenarios, the coffee shop owner is the "end user" of the Internet, even if the shop makes money charging its users for access. The coffee shop can therefore block file-sharing traffic with impunity, and it doesn't need to disclose such blocking or throttling. (Though the FCC does ask quite politely for such business to "disclose relevant restrictions on broadband service they make available to their patrons.")