FCC is no threat to the Internet

The federal appeals court ruling regarding net neutrality last week worries us. We could be living in what will later be known as the good old days of the Internet.

If the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to monitor the content Internet companies provide to their customers, then who does?

Surely, the court doesn't believe that these businesses will do it themselves. If Internet service providers can restrict access to their competitor's Web sites, they probably will.

Net neutrality is the concept of Internet providers offering equal access to all Web traffic. The FCC has fought to impose rules that would ensure net neutrality exists.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided, with a unanimous ruling, that the agency lacks the power to enforce such a policy.

The concern is that nothing is stopping Comcast or any other ISP from deciding what sites their clients can view.

If you are confused as to why Comcast cares what Web sites you visit, you should know that they merged with NBC Universal last December. After many months of rumors, Comcast and General Electric secured a partnership that merged NBC Universal with Comcast's cable networks, regional sports networks and other properties. This means the company that provides access to media also provides content.

Comcast has already been caught deliberately slowing traffic on peer-to-peer downloads.
Why would a company who makes a profit from all the Web sites under its umbrella want its clients visiting sites that do not bring them a profit? No business owner would want that, and without regulations from the FCC, Comcast has an actual way to throttle competitors without penalty.

Robert M. McDowell, a member of the FCC who dissented from rules proposed to govern the Internet wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post last week.

McDowell said, "The best antidote to potential anticompetitive conduct is more competition. Let's work on policies that encourage more investment, innovation and competition instead of regulation and rationing."

The problem with McDowell's theory is that ISPs operate with very little competition, and that's not an easy fix. ISPs own the cables that bring you the Internet, making regional monopolies all but absurd.

Why would they foster healthy competition when they can secure Web traffic to sites that bring them financial gain?

We are not talking about a small amount of money, either. According to the FCC, almost two thirds of American adults have broadband access at home and almost 95 percent have some form of broadband available. With so much Internet access, Americans are shopping online more than ever, which means Comcast has a substantial amount of money to gain from Web traffic to the sites they own and partner with.

Americans are paying their Internet service providers to access the Internet — all of it — not just what the company sees fit. And a watchdog organization, probably the FCC, needs to make sure the Internet providers play fairly.