“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.” Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars (1977).
Here begins an analysis of the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rules. Because the topic is so large, I’m breaking this analysis into a series (although I haven’t yet decided how many parts there will be). I won’t promise that the analysis will be comprehensive, as I intend to focus on the points I find most interesting, but I will try my best to keep using some of my favorite Star Wars quotes as bookends.
I begin with the scope of the proposed rules. According to the NPRM, the proposed rules are merely a “codification of the existing Internet policy principles,” albeit with two additions. But the rules as proposed are vastly more limited than the existing Internet principles. The existing principles are broad and consumer-centric. They say that “consumers are entitled” to (1) access lawful content of their choice, (2) use the applications and services of their choice, (3) connect their choice of legal devices, and (4) competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.
The proposed net neutrality rules don’t mention consumers. Instead of focusing on what consumers can do, the proposed rules focus on what providers of “broadband Internet access service” can’t do. The FCC says this “would make clear precisely who must comply and in what way.” What the FCC doesn’t say is that the rules would also make clear that all of the other essential participants in the Internet ecosystem would have no obligations at all.