Running head: Net neutrality 1

Net Neutrality: A Review of Literature

Irving A. Sanchez
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract
The Internet since its very first moment has always followed the same
principles of equality and freedom. The Federal Communications Commission
is the government entity in charge of keeping the principles of the Internet safe
had a change of heart. In an attempt to give Internet Service Providers more
freedom over their services, the FCC lost its regulating power over those
services. Since the FCC lost its power in the early 2000s, it has been a struggle
to keep the Internet Service Providers in check and keeping the integrity of the
Internet safe.

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Net Neutrality: A Review of Literature
Ever since the late 1990s, Net Neutrality has been a topic worth talking
about. It was such a popular topic that in 1999 Tim Wu, a well-known lawyer
created the term Net Neutrality. In 2002 for reasons unrelated to Net
Neutrality the Federal Communications Commission or FCC made the decision
to change the classification of the Internet in to give Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) more freedom over their services. After almost three years, in 2005, the
change in the classification of the Internet finally took effect and was changed
from an Article II Telecommunications Service to an Article I General Provisions
Service under the Communications Act of 1934. This change gave ISPs the
power to control the Internet to an enormous extent, however, they were kept in
check by the FCC. It was not until that 2007 the first struggle between the FCC
and ISPs happened. Comcast one of the largest ISPs started discriminating
against the Bit-torrent traffic in its network by slowing down the traffic or
completely blocking it. It was not apparent to the FCC until this struggle that it
had given too much of its power to ISPs and was left hunting in law books for
loopholes and laws that might help keep ISPs in check. For almost seven years
the FCC was in a constant battle with ISPs and finally in February 2015, due
to pressure and from the president, the FCC finally reclassified ISPs as

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telecommunications services under article II striping ISPs of almost all of their
power.
As things are right now, the FCC has total control over the ISPs and is
constantly keeping them in check and Net Neutrality is safe at the moment.
However, ISPs have recently sued the FCC in order to challenge the decision of
reclassifying them as a telecommunications service as this limits them to a
large extent. All of these have been happening for over 10 years, and it is
affecting something that in todays world almost everybody uses it every day.
Yet it is surprising that only a small number of people know what Net
Neutrality is and even a smaller portion know what is actually happening. In
light of this situation this literature will review the following three questions:
1. How is Net Neutrality being threatened?
2. Why do ISPs fight Net Neutrality?
3. How Does Net Neutrality affect the American People?
This questions will help show the purpose of this Literature review by providing
background information on the issue as well as how customers would be
affected if Net Neutrality came to an end.
How is Net Neutrality being threatened?
The Internet in its current form is not broken, and the FCC is currently
taking steps to fix that (J. Oliver, 2014). In 2014, the FCC after a long battle
since 2007 finally proposed new Internet rules that would change the Internets

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current neutral form to a two-tier Internet with a fast lane and a slow lane.
This system would be set up in a way that ISPs would not be able to regulate
the slow lane, but they would be able to closely regulate the fast lane to a point
where they would be able to choose which online services would be allowed into
this lane. Another thing that the proposed new rules would have allowed ISPs
to charge companies for allowing their online services to access this lane as
well as costumers in order to be allowed this optimal speed. Due to major
media acknowledgment as well as pressure from the public, well-known
figures, and corporations like Google and Amazon, the Chairman of the FCC,
Tom Wheeler was forced to not only not make this rules official, but also
reclassify the Internet to an article II telecommunications service. ISPs were not
able to do much about this change because even though they sued the FCC in
order to stop this change, the judges overhearing the court gathering dismissed
the charges as they were in favor of the changes the FCC was making. ISPs
were forced to once again follow the rules set forth by the FCC, unable to do
much Verizon Wireless among others acted passively aggressive. After the rules
were set in place, Verizon Wireless sued the FCC in order to at least remove
some of the new rules if not all. As of March 2016, the rulings of this court are
still pending. With the 2016 presidential election, the Net Neutrality
battleground might see a change with a new president that might support ISPs,

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if the new president supports ISPs, the FCC Chairman could be potentially
replaced by an ISP lobbyist. This would really damage Net Neutrality and once
again give ISPs all the option to control what its customer are able to access on
the Internet and also be able to charge customers based on what they can
access.
Why do ISPs fight Net Neutrality?
The main reason why ISPs fight Net Neutrality is because of monetary
gain. If Net Neutrality is abolished, the Internet would change to a one-sided
battlefield where the ISPs own online services and that of those who are able to
pay a premium would have an upper hand in the online market. No Net
Neutrality would mean that new online services would have a hard time getting
started because they would not be able to pay for charges that ISPs would
impose on them so that their service would be able to be delivered at the same
speed of the services of already paying companies. Service providers like
Youtube and Netflix due to their large volume of service users would also be
forced to pay for maintenance and to help the infrastructure expand as the
Internet is used much more each say. Many believe that if ISPs are kept
unregulated, these will start to block traffic of services that rival their own and
this affect Amazon, Netflix, Google among others are have joined customers

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something that is not too often seen as most of the time the fights are between
customers and companies.
In 2007, the FCC received a complaint from BitTorrent claiming that
Comcast was blocking its services to this allegation Comcast responded by
Figure 1. This graph shows the change in speed of Netflix before, during and after an
agreement was made with Comcast

saying that BitTorrent was slowing down the overall infrastructure and
demanded payment. The FCC ordered Comcast to stop this behavior and
Comcast did, however, a lawsuit was filed against the FCC because Comcast
claimed that the FCC did not have the Jurisdiction for this, the FCC lost at
court but Comcast did stop blocking the BitTorrent traffic. In 2014 before the
FCC reclassified Internet service, Comcast the largest broadband provider
started
slowing

The Washington Post. (2014, April 24). % change in Netflix download speed [Digital image].
Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/

down the connection between its customers and Netflix, following their lead
other ISPs also started slowing downs Netflixs service on their networks. Netflix
was left with no option but to pay Comcast and a speed reduction that had
been going on for 4 years, was more than reversed in just a few months.

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If Net Neutrality is repealed and ISPs are allowed to continue charging

online service providers, then not only business transactions on the Internet
would be affected but also, business transactions in the real world would be
affected also. The ISPs that are demanding pay from online services only
provide service to homes and businesses who only need to access the Internet
for services and do not have a server that requires them to host multiple
servers. ISPs receive pay from customers, then ISPs have to connect to services
not accessible in their network, to do this they pay backbone providers to
connect them to other Backbone Providers that are directly connected to
services like Netflix. The online service provider also has to pay Backbone
providers in order to be connected to the Internet, but if ISPs are allowed to
continue charging online service provider directly, in order to maintain their

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prices low online service providers will eventually be forced to connect directly
to ISPs completely eliminating Backbone providers from the picture.

Figure 2. Illustration showing how the Internet infrastructure works and how money flows in
the system.

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How Does
Net

Source: Washington Post. (n.d.). [Internet infrastructure]. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from
https://img.washingtonpost.com

Neutrality affect the American People?

If Net Neutrality is effectively repealed, ISPs will have total control over
the information that is available on the Internet. If this happens, Internet users
might be limited to only certain products or services. In 2005, Madison River
Communications a North Carolina ISP was found to be blocking Vonage a
phone service that works over the Internet which rivaled the ISPs own phone
service, the FCC issued an order to prohibit this practice and Madison River
Communications was fined for this practice. If Net Neutrality is repealed, the
user will have to settle for what is offered by their ISP. If this is allowed

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competition will be reduced allowing some companies to become monopolies
which would mean that prices would skyrocket.
If ISPs are allowed to charge online service providers directly, the charges
will eventually be handed down to the customer via in an increase in the price
of the service. This would not only affect the customer but also the companies
providing this services as they will eventually see customers canceling
subscriptions in order to search for a cheaper service. Customers will also
experience slower loading times on some web pages and services, especially the
ones that are hosted by other Internet user and companies whose service is
just barely starting and are not able to pay a premium to ISPs in order to
provide their services at the highest speed possible.
Even though the way customers could be affected is almost endless,
however, a large majority of the population does is unaware of Net Neutrality
and even a larger portion is unaware that the term Net Neutrality exist. In a
self-conducted eight question survey conducted amongst college student asking
them about theirs views on Net Neutrality, 75 percent of the respondents had
never heard of Net Neutrality before the survey, and even after reading a short
paragraph on Net Neutrality, 33 percent answered that they had no opinion or
did not care about while another 33 percent said that they did not think net
Neutrality was an issue. In another question, the respondents contradicted

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themselves with 69 percent saying that if prices were to be handed down to the
customer they would not pay them and 75 percent saying they would like to
have online service providers pay the charges instead.
Figure 3. Graph of percentages of reposes of college students believe should pay for the
infrastructure development.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this literary analysis has answered various questions
regarding Net Neutrality using up-to-date data, however, continuous research is
needed to since data for answering this questions might change as key events
on the topic of Net Neutrality are bound to happen in the foreseeable future.
Even though Net Neutrality is an issue that affects a large part of the
population, not a lot of people are aware of the issue. Citizens and, more
importantly, customers of ISPs should take a look at this issue and do anything
in their power because the Internet is not just a toy used for entertainment
anymore, it has become a tool that is essential to Americas very own way of
life.

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References
Ammori, M. (2014, July 06). John Olivers Hilarious Net Neutrality Piece
Speaks the Truth and Nothing But. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/06/john_
oliver_s_net_neutrality_segment_speaks_the_truth.html
Ehrenfreund, M. (2014, April 25). This hilarious graph of Netflix speeds shows
the importance of net neutrality. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from
http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/this-hilariousgraph-of-netflix-speeds-shows-the-importance-of-net-neutrality/
Feld, H. (2015, December 02). Net Neutrality in Court This Week: The Story of
How We Got Here - Public Knowledge. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/net-neutrality-incourt-this-week-the-story-of-how-we-got-here
Lee, T. B. (2014, February 23). Comcasts deal with Netflix makes network
neutrality obsolete. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theswitch/wp/2014/02/23/comcasts-deal-with-netflix-makes-networkneutrality-obsolete/
Madrigal, A. C., & Lafrance, A. (2014, April 25). Net Neutrality: A Guide to (and
History of) a Contested Idea. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from

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http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/the-bestwriting-on-net-neutrality/361237/

References
Net Neutrality - Public Knowledge. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.publicknowledge.org/issues/net-neutrality
Oliver, J., & Last Week Tonight. (2014, June 01). Last Week Tonight with John
Oliver: Net Neutrality (HBO). Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpbOEoRrHyU
Oliver, J., & Last Week Tonight. (2014, June 15). Last Week Tonight with John
Oliver: Tom Wheeler Is Not A Dingo (HBO). Retrieved March 23, 2016,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkjkQ-wCZ5A.
Oliver, J., & Last Week Tonight. (2015, March 03). Last Week Tonight With John
Oliver - Net Neutrality Update. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxXIIMYXFoM
Stella, S. (2015, May 08). Public Knowledge Applauds FCC Denial of Net
Neutrality Stay - Public Knowledge. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.publicknowledge.org/press-release/public-knowledgeapplauds-fcc-denial-of-net-neutrality-stay

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Tummarello, K., & Byers, A. (2016, March 17). Wheeler's crystal ball: Net
neutrality decision
soon. Retrieved March 26, 2016, from
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-tech/2016/03/wheelerscrystal-ball-net-neutrality-decision-soon-garland-a-quick-study-ontelecom-issues-a-path-forward-for-small-biz-bill-in-the-senate-213269

References
Weinberg, M. (2014, May 16). Net Neutrality: How The FCCs Proposed Fast
Lanes Would Actually Work - Public Knowledge. Retrieved March 23,
2016, from https://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/how-thefccs-proposed-fast-lanes-would-actually-work
What is Net Neutrality? (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
http://whatisnetneutrality.org/timeline

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Appendix
Survey Questions
Which of the following Internet Service Providers do you use in your home?
Does your ISP (Internet Service Provider) throttle your connection to websites
like YouTube or services like BitTorrent?
Do you think companies should be allowed to pay a premium in order for their
online services to have a higher priority over other companies and small
businesses?
Do you believe that allowing companies to pay premiums could put small
businesses online services at a disadvantage?

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Who do you think should pay for the expanding network and bandwidth
capacity required because of the heavy use of services like YouTube and
Netflix?
If the cost of the network and bandwidth was passed on to the user, would you
be for or against it?
Is this the first time you hear about Net Neutrality?
In your opinion based on knowledge found in this survey and previous
knowledge you might have, is Net Neutrality an issue?