Net neutrality rules reversed by US vote

Federal regulators in the US have voted to reverse rules ensuring a free and open internet, in a decision opponents say will have huge ramifications.

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday voted to end protections guaranteeing so-called ‘net neutrality’, brought in under Barack Obama. These rules were intended to keep the internet open and fair by explicitly prohibiting internet service providers like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon from speeding up or slowing down traffic from specific websites and apps and prioritising their own content.

The decision to reverse these rules “marks a victory for big internet service providers that opposed the regulations and gives them sweeping powers to decide what web content consumers can access”, says Reuters.

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Ajit Pai, the chairman appointed to run the FCC by Donald Trump, is a long-time critic of net neutrality regulations, arguing they amount to federal attempts to “micromanage the internet.”

However, while the changes have been welcomed by the telecoms industry, the repeal plan has been loudly criticised by numerous technology companies and consumer advocacy groups. They fear it could “give internet providers too much control over how online content is delivered and may also make it harder for the next generation of online services to compete, if they have to pay up to be placed in a so-called internet fast lane”, says CNN Money.

These fears have prompted a flurry of activity in recent weeks aimed at softening or even stopping the planned changes. Twitter, Reddit and Kickstarter posted messages, while some of the original creators of the internet even signed a letter calling on the FCC to cancel the vote.

There have been mass demonstrations outside Verizon stores across the US and three dozen Democratic senators issued a last-minute plea to Pai to abandon what they called a “reckless plan”, but to no avail.