Internet Neutrality

Author(s):  
Maria Löblich

Internet neutrality—usually net(work) neutrality—encompasses the idea that all data packets that circulate on the Internet should be treated equally, without discriminating between users, types of content, platforms, sites, applications, equipment, or modes of communication. The debate about this normative principle revolves around the Internet as a set of distribution channels and how and by whom these channels can be used to control communication. The controversy was spurred by advancements in technology, the increased usage of bandwidth-intensive services, and changing economic interests of Internet service providers. Internet service providers are not only important technical but also central economic actors in the management of the Internet’s architecture. They seek to increase revenue, to recover sizable infrastructure upgrades, and expand their business model. This has consequences for the net neutrality principle, for individual users and corporate content providers. In the case of Internet service providers becoming content providers themselves, net neutrality proponents fear that providers may exclude competitor content, distribute it poorly and more slowly, and require competitors to pay for using high-speed networks. Net neutrality is not only a debate on infrastructure business models that is carried out in economic expert circles. On the contrary, and despite its technical character, it has become an issue in the public debate and an issue that is framed not only in economic but also in political and social terms. The main dividing line in the debate is whether net neutrality regulation is necessary or not and what scope net neutrality obligations should have. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States passed new net neutrality rules in 2015 and strengthened its legal underpinning regarding the regulation of Internet service providers (ISPs). With the Telecoms Single Market Regulation, for the first time there will be a European Union–wide legislation for net neutrality, but not recent dilution of requirements. From a communication studies perspective, Internet neutrality is an issue because it relates to a number of topics addressed in communication research, including communication rights, diversity of media ownership, media distribution, user control, and consumer protection. The connection between legal and economic bodies of research, dominating net neutrality literature, and communication studies is largely underexplored. The study of net neutrality would benefit from such a linkage.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
Alexey Gaivoronski ◽  
◽  
Vasily Gorbachuk ◽  
Maxim Dunaievskiy ◽  
◽  
...  

As computing and Internet connections become general-purpose technologies and services aimed at broad global markets, questions arise about the effectiveness of such markets in terms of public welfare, the participation of differentiated service providers and end-users. Motorola’s Iridium Global Communications project was completed in the 1990s due to similar issues, reaching the goal of technological connectivity for the first time. As Internet services are characterized by high innovation, differentiation and dynamism, they can use well-known models of differentiated products. However, the demand functions in such models are hyperbolic rather than linear. In addition, such models are stochastic and include providers with different ways of competing. In the Internet ecosystem, the links between Internet service providers (ISPs) as telecommunications operators and content service providers are important, especially high-bandwidth video content providers. As increasing bandwidth requires new investments in network capacity, both video content providers and ISPs need to be motivated to do so. In order to analyze the relationships between Internet service providers and content providers in the Internet ecosystem, computable models, based on the construction of payoff functions for all the participants in the ecosystem, are suggested. The introduction of paid content browsing will motivate Internet service providers to invest in increasing the capacity of the global network, which has a trend of exponential growth. At the same time, such a browsing will violate the principles of net neutrality, which provides grounds for the development of new tasks to minimize the violations of net neutrality and maximize the social welfare of the Internet ecosystem. The models point to the importance of the efficiency of Internet service providers, the predictability of demand and the high price elasticity of innovative services.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Pil Choi ◽  
Doh-Shin Jeon ◽  
Byung-Cheol Kim

We analyze the effect of net neutrality regulation in a two-sided market framework when content is heterogeneous in its sensitivity to delivery quality. We characterize the equilibrium in a neutral network constrained to offer the same quality vis-à-vis a nonneutral network where Internet service providers are allowed to engage in second-degree price discrimination with a menu of quality-price pairs. We find that the merit of net neutrality regulation depends crucially on content providers' business models. More generally, our analysis can be considered a contribution to the literature on second-degree price discrimination in two-sided platform markets. (JEL D42, D43, D85, L51, L86, L88)


Author(s):  
Van Nguyen ◽  
Derek Mohammed ◽  
Marwan Omar ◽  
Mubarak Banisakher

The repeal of net neutrality has caused a great public outcry from academic down to the end-users. Net neutrality was an FCC order that specified the principles for Internet Service Providers. The most prevalent principles were related to bandwidth throttling, preferential treatments, and privacy. Some described the action of the FCC will lead to the end of the Internet and consumer privacy. There have been many articles discussing about the fallout of the ruling, but it is difficult filtering fact from fiction. In this article, the authors discuss the nature of net neutrality, the history, the arguments for and against, and the roles of the FCC and their many orders. They also layout the implication of repeal on security and privacy. They present a few scenarios specifying what an ISP can do and cannot do. Finally, the authors specify what laws the consumers have left for their privacy.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 175-188
Author(s):  
Lauri Rantakari

This article seeks to illustrate current policies over the so-called network neutrality in the United States and in the European Union. In short, network neutrality, which lacks any exact definition and is under constantdebate, consists of principles that allow public information networks to treat all content, sites and platforms equally. In practice, hindrance or exclusion of certain types of lawful Internet traffic or content by the Internet service providers would be contrary to these principles. Due to the US-centric nature of the Internet, the US stance over network neutrality will also affect the Internet policies of the European Union as well. Thus, the aim of this article is to stimulate academic discussion about network neutrality in Finland. The focus of this descriptive article is on exemplifying network neutrality’s impact on technological development, the evolution of business models in the Internet space, and especially, potential antitrust issues. Finally, this article asks how network neutrality will be legislated in the future and whether it will survive as a network design principle.


Author(s):  
Dr Debarshi Mukherjee ◽  
Dr Sonia Dhir

The principle of net neutrality has gained much attention since 2006 and again in 2015 in India when Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released its consultation paper in which it invited public opinions with regard to the regulation of free availability and access of content (text, voice and media) on internet by various service providers. The topic gained much attention when the established telecom corporations started suggesting that they should be paid by the internet content providers like Facebook, You tube, Google etc, for providing them the network for reaching the masses. Telecom companies argue that the internet content providers have been making high profits from low investments while they are the ones to have made high investments in building the infrastructure for these service providers to operate, due to which the internet service providers should share their revenues with the telecom companies. The violation of net neutrality will take place if any kind of discrimination takes place in terms of providing any type of data to the consumers. This means their very right to free access to information from internet will be violated. Violation of net neutrality has generated much uproar around the world since telecom corporations like Airtel demanded that telecom companies like Airtel should be paid by the content providers like Google, Facebook, Amazon etc for letting them display their content on internet to the mass consumers and generating huge profits. This violation means that differential pricing is likely to be practiced by the telecom firms in terms of charging both the internet service providers and consumers. Currently there are no laws in India which govern net neutrality which means the content available on internet can be accessed by anybody without any kind of discrimination. This study seeks to fulfill the knowledge gap by empirically analyzing the various cross sections of the society which are bound to get affected by the violation of net neutrality.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (10) ◽  
pp. 587
Author(s):  
Ellen Satterwhite

The fight for network neutrality continues, despite disappointing court rulingOn October 1, 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit delivered a long-awaited and complex ruling on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had the authority to eliminate Obama-era network neutrality protections that required all Internet traffic to be treated equally and prohibited blocking or prioritizing traffic in any way. The issue hinges in part on the reclassification of broadband as a telecommunications service, which would have made Internet service providers subject to stricter regulations. The judges ruled in favor of the FCC, saying it does have the authority to determine how the Internet is regulated (or not, in this case). At the same time, the court also determined the FCC still has work to do, remanding parts of the order back for further proceedings and, most importantly, rejecting the FCC’s attempts to prevent states from passing their own net neutrality rules.


ADALAH ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Munadhil Abdul Muqsith

Abstract:The internet developed for the first time in Indonesia in the early 1990s. Starting from the pagayuban network, it is now expanding without boundaries anywhere. A survey conducted by the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) said that the number of internet users in Indonesia in 2012 reached 63 million people or 24.23 percent of the country's total population. Next year, that figure is predicted to increase by close to 30 percent to 82 million users and continue to grow to 107 million in 2014 and 139 million or 50 percent of the total population in 2015. million people. This matter also results in political communication with the internet media, or is often said to be cyber politics. Cyber politics in Indonesia has faced growth in recent years. There are many facilities that support the growth of cyber politics, such as Facebook, Twitter, mailing list, YouTube, and others.Keywords: Cyberpolitik, Internet  Abstrak:Internet berkembang pertama kali di Indonesia pada awal tahun 1990-an. Diawali dari pagayuban network kini berkembang luas tanpa batas dimanapun juga. Suatu survei yang diselenggarakan Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII) mengatakan kalau jumlah pengguna internet di Indonesia tahun 2012 menggapai 63 juta orang ataupun 24,23 persen dari total populasi negeri ini. Tahun depan, angka itu diprediksi naik dekat 30 persen jadi 82 juta pengguna serta terus berkembang jadi 107 juta pada 2014 serta 139 juta ataupun 50 persen total populasi pada 2015. juta orang. Perihal ini pula berakibat pada komunikasi politik dengan media internet, ataupun kerap diucap dengan cyber politic. Cyber politic di Indonesia hadapi pertumbuhan sebagian tahun terakhir. Banyaknya fasilitas yang menunjang pertumbuhan cyber politic semacam terdapatnya facebook, Twitter, mailing list, youtobe, serta lain-lain.Kata Kunci: Cyberpolitik, Internet 


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Zoltán Szűts ◽  
Jinil Yoo

Tanulmányunk témája a netsemlegesség. Először magát a fogalmat definiáljuk többféle módon, majd a netsemlegességgel kapcsolatos törvényhozói, internet- és tartalomszolgáltatói, valamint felhasználói kihívásokat, problémákat és válaszokat mutatjuk be. Számos szerző szerint az internet legnagyobb, immár tradicionális értéke a nyíltság, sokszínűség, tartalomgazdagság, tértől és időtől független társadalmi és perszonális kommunikációba való szabad belépés és a szabad verseny lehetősége. A netsemlegesség mellett és ellen felhozott érvek bemutatását is ezek a szempontok alapján tesszük. Kiemelt szerepet kap a netsemlegesség megsértésének kategorizálása is. Tanulmányunkban közlünk egy törvényalkotási kronológiát, mely az USA-ra, az EU-ra és Kelet-Ázsiára fókuszál, illetve ismertetjük a BEREC 2011-es felmérésének az EU-ban alkalmazott, internetszolgáltatói gyakorlatra vonatkozó eredményeit. A munkát az Internet.org kezdeményezést vizsgáló esettanulmány zárja, végül ezt követik a jövővel kapcsolatos kérdések, és néhány lehetséges válasz. --- Net neutrality - definitions and the standpoints of legislators, content providers, Internet service providers and users This article examines the topic of net neutrality. Firstly, it provides us with a theoretical insight and several definitions. Then it presents the issues and challenges legislators, ISP’s, content providers and users face. Several authors state that the biggest virtue and value of Internet lies in open access, diversity, richness of content, free competition, and low barrier entry for users in order to participate in personal social communication. Our presentation of arguments pro and cons net neutrality will be built on the basis of these considerations. Priority will be given to the introduction of several categories of net neutrality violations. In our paper we will present a legislative chronology in the topic focusing on USA, EU and Korea-Japan as well as the findings of the 2011 BEREC survey. Finally we examine the Internet.org project. In the conclusion, the article offers several more issues to be discussed and provides some possible answers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Elissar Khloussy ◽  
Yuming Jiang

The net neutrality principle states that users should have equal access to all Internet content and that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not practice differentiated treatment on any of the Internet traffic. While net neutrality aims to restrain any kind of discrimination, it also grants exemption to a certain category of traffic known as specialized services (SS), by allowing the ISP to dedicate part of the resources for the latter. In this work, we consider a heterogeneous LTE/WiFi wireless network and we investigate revenue-maximizing Radio Access Technology (RAT) selection strategies that are net neutrality-compliant, with exemption granted to SS traffic. Our objective is to find out how the bandwidth reservation for SS traffic would be made in a way that allows maximizing the revenue while being in compliance with net neutrality and how the choice of the ratio of reserved bandwidth would affect the revenue. The results show that reserving bandwidth for SS traffic in one RAT (LTE) can achieve higher revenue. On the other hand, when the capacity is reserved across both LTE and WiFi, higher social benefit in terms of number of admitted users can be realized, as well as lower blocking probability for the Internet access traffic.


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