Does the FCC really not get it about the Internet?

[Commentary] The key to an open Internet is nondiscrimination and in particular, a prohibition on discrimination or prioritization based on the identity of the user (sender/receiver) or use (application/content). Unfortunately, the rules now being considered by the FCC don’t come close to implementing this simple and important benchmark.

There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the most fundamental is a simple misconception, one that persists in the work of the FCC but also of proponents and opponents of network neutrality. It is the false distinction between what they call “edge providers” (YouTube) and “end users” (people who watch videos on YouTube). Who exactly are the end users that are not edge providers? In other words, who uses the Internet but does not provide any content, application, or service? The answer is no one. All end users provide content as they engage in communications with other end users, individually or collectively.

[Brett Frischmann is the director of the Cardozo Intellectual Property and Information Law Program]