The Future Openness of the Internet Should Not Turn on the Decision of a Particular Company

On Tuesday, April 17, the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing –  entitled “From Core to Edge: Perspective on Internet Prioritization” – to  better understanding of how network operators manage data flows over the Internet and how data is prioritized from the network core to the edge.

The hearing seems to set up to address seven questions:

1. How is data prioritized over the Internet and private networks to ensure that the Internet works for everyone?
2. Is the concern about paid prioritization actually about affiliate content? Are there other ways to address that aspect other than blocking such avenues?
3. When we discuss the optimization of data transfer rate, does this necessarily mean that some data is “slowed down” to make a “fast lane”?
4. What are the implications for prioritization over wireline vs. wireless broadband networks?
5. How do we make sure that the rural service gap does not widen as content caching is focused on urban and suburban areas?
6. What separates healthy prioritization from anti-competitive forms of prioritization?
7. Where could helpful or harmful forms of prioritization exist on the network or on the edge?

In its 2015 Open Internet Order, the Federal Communications Commission banned broadband internet access service providers from engaging in paid prioritization of internet traffic over their networks. At the time, many broadband providers promised they were not engaging in paid prioritization and did not plan to in the future. Below is what the FCC found in 2015 – more or less in the FCC’s own words.