The FCC and Net Neutrality in Maryland

An ongoing battle involving the internet, the Federal Communications Commission and telecommunications companies took a turn this past week that will have an effect on net neutrality in Maryland and all over the country.

Net neutrality is, in its simplest terms, a principal by which users are given the same amount of internet access regardless of the service provider or cost. Under the idea of net neutrality telecommunications companies, governments and businesses cannot restrict user access to internet content, web sites or platforms.

The opposite of this principal would be such that internet service providers are able to control what users on their networks can access. Larger companies and content generators would be able to pay providers so that their pages would load faster, leaving competition without equal resources behind to languish, for example.

Without net neutrality, service providers would also be able to block users from competitor owned and operated websites and services in favor of their own, creating an artificial scarcity.

As it stands right now, net neutrality in Maryland is the same as it is everywhere else, but that may be poised to change with a recent decision by the FCC to create what essentially comes down to two different tiers of internet access.

The new rules put into place by the FCC on December 21st dictate what service providers, and cannot, do with their fixed line and wireless services.

In a set of rules that could be best described as being interpretive, the FCC ruled that fixed-line broadband companies are forbidden from blocking or otherwise discriminating against websites and applications. These new rules, however, do not extend to wireless internet service.

At best, wireless providers must disclose the steps that they take to manage their respective networks, but the FCC’s newly implemented regulations do not expressly forbid giving priority to entities that would pay providers for faster transmission of their data.

The effect that this has on net neutrality in Maryland extends to the fact that wireless providers like Verizon and AT&T have a large presence in Maryland and many other places and that this move could dictate how they conduct business with their customers in the near future.

The move by the FCC has been largely accepted by internet providers while, at the same time, being condemned by a variety of public interest groups and consumer advocacy organizations.

It’s argued among opponents of the FCC’s measures that the new rules are rife with loopholes that will allow for interpretation as to what does and doesn’t count as content that can be interfered with.

Companies such as the WebMechanix SEO firm in Baltimore, MD are ready to adapt regardless which way the industry turns as these new regulations are considered by the FCC.

The issue of net neutrality in Maryland first came into the spotlight in 2007, when delegate Herman Taylor, a democrat, introduced House Bill 1069. Under the bill, he sought what many opponents of the FCC’s new regulations seek; restriction on the practice of favoring certain online content over others from service providers.

The concern was not just with prioritization, but with the idea that service providers would offer tiered services, similar to what cable companies offer now. The main concern cited was that internet service providers might charge more to customers for what’s provided now while lower priced models would throttle download speeds from popular video streaming sites and block other sites.

With the regulations passed earlier this week, opponents to the FCC argue that the tiered pricing could still be a reality for consumers in the near future unless the inevitable courtroom battles that follow the ruling unfold in their favor.

Proponents of the FCC’s regulations argue, however, that they need to explore new pricing models in order to offset growing expenses and stay profitable.

Whatever the future holds for the status of net neutrality in Maryland, it can be said that the way communication is carried out in the future won’t be the same.

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