Computer servers. AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia’s decision to invalidate the “open internet” rules the FCC set forth in 2010 has not only widened an already deep rift in the tech community, but within the FCC itself. At the core of this argument is the battle between companies that supply the internet and those who use it. Internet service providers — in this case Verizon — have thus far been regulated as to the speeds and levels of access they must provide given that the rules set forth by the FCC required broadband providers to treat all internet traffic equally.
With these rules now void, or at the very least in the FCC’s lab again for rewriting, ISPs are free to charge content producers for the high speeds at which they provide their web content. Many see this pivotal ruling as an overturning of the “open internet” regulations that have preserved the startup culture whereby smaller companies can build applications and services on the internet to compete with bigger companies because the high-speed costs have been the same.
But also swirling at the center of this debate is the division within the FCC itself: Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Ajit Pai have publicly butted heads in the past over their respective Democrat and Republican standings, and they have both released statements that are in direct opposition to each other concerning the court decision.
Wheeler’s statement is as follows:
I am committed to maintaining our networks as engines for economic growth, test beds for innovative services and products, and channels for all forms of speech protected by the First Amendment. We will consider all available options, including those for appeal, to ensure that these networks on which the Internet depends continue to provide a free and open platform for innovation and expression, and operate in the interest of all Americans.
But Commissioner Pai’s statement flouts his Chairman’s opinion. From the FCC website, Pai issued:
For the second time in four years, the D.C. Circuit has ruled that the FCC exceeded its authority in attempting to regulate the Internet. It is time for the Commission to take no for an answer. Unless Congress acts, we should stay our hand and refrain from any further attempt to micromanage how broadband providers run their networks. We should focus on removing regulatory barriers to broadband deployment, not imposing unnecessary rules that chill infrastructure investment.
There appears to be no end in sight for this debate over which many believe is the original principle of the web: that access to the internet should be plentiful and affordable. Wheeler and Pai seem to want the same thing: an environment where internet innovation is free to build out without restrictions. We’re going to find out — soon, it seems — whose vision will actually safeguard that freedom to build and innovate.
