Giving internet to big business
If you think Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google already have monopolistic power, just wait until the FCC rolls back net neutrality rules.
President Donald Trump’s appointee to lead the Federal Communications Commission announced last week that he intends to hand the internet over to corporate interests, allowing service providers to speed up content from some companies while slowing down content from others. The so-called FANG companies and internet service providers couldn’t be happier.
In the current age of doublespeak, of course, the Trump administration is portraying the move as a blow against Big Brother.
“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet,” Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said in a statement.
Pai’s initiative, though, would end the last egalitarian aspect of a technology that early developers believed would make information freely available to everyone. Under current rules, internet service providers must treat all data equally, whether it comes from Facebook or a web site that hasn’t been updated in a decade.
The repeal of net neutrality would allow internet service providers to set up multiple lanes on the information highway,
each with its own speed limit, and of course, different tolls.
This will bring profound changes to how we experience the internet. Streaming video provider Netflix will not only be able to pay a provider like AT&T to get in the fast lane, it will theoretically be able to pay AT&T to put Hulu in the slow lane.
For the consumer, that means lightning-fast access to “Stranger Things,” but not-so-great service when watching “The Handmaid’s Tale.” If we want the priorities flipped, AT&T could charge us for that.
Under Pai’s proposal, Google could favor shopping results from its site over those of Amazon. Or vice versa, if Amazon struck a deal with major service providers.
Lastly, what are the odds of a new social media company challenging Facebook and Twitter if those companies can pay to make sure that they are always the fastest, highestquality service? How can a new video streaming company or a shopping network break into the market if incumbents can rig the system against them?
This gives internet service providers enormous power not only to auction off access to the fast lane, but also limit a company’s access to large swaths of the country. Most Americans only have one or two choices of service providers, so they have to take whatever their service provider gives them.
Pai claims the Federal Trade Commission will block these kinds of abuses, but in fact, the FTC does not have the authority. Preserving competition and consumer choice in telecommunications is the FCC’s mission, and Pai is abdicating that role and allowing the world’s wealthiest and most powerful technology giants to bolster their monopolies.
“For more than a decade, previous Republican and Democratic FCCs have tried to bring fairness and balance to the delivery of the internet to consumers,” Tom Wheeler, a former FCC chairman under President Barack Obama, wrote in an op-ed. “Now the Trump FCC has simply cut to the chase, there is no need for the big companies to sue — they’ll just be given everything they want.”
Pai’s proposal comes at a fascinating moment in internet history, when companies are becoming more powerful and governments fearful.
Russian intelligence services managed to use Facebook and Twitter to deliver false propaganda messages to tens of millions of American voters, possibly influencing a presidential election. When all of us do our online socializing on just two unregulated, poorly moderated sites, we become easy pickings for foreign intelligence agencies.
Amazon, meanwhile, is doing its best to wipe out local retail stores. In addition to selling consumer goods, Amazon also offers streaming video, prepared meals and is expected to enter the pharmacy business.
Google actively scrapes our email for consumer data and has trained its voice technology to look for clues about future purchases.
Even before Pai’s announcement about rolling back net neutrality, many governments were opening investigations.
The European Union fined Google $2.7 billion for favoring its own shopping service in search results after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission declined to take action. Germany, Japan and the U.S. Congress are digging into whether Facebook is abusing its market power or acting as an unwitting dupe for Russian agents.
Trump’s Justice Department last week sued to block AT&T from merging with Time Warner, an unusual move since the companies do not compete. AT&T has pointed to the FANG companies’ growing market power to justify the acquisition.
One thing is certain. Allowing internet companies to boost their power will not benefit consumers, only hurt them.
FCC commissioners will vote on lifting net neutrality rules on Dec. 14, and the repeal will likely pass on a party-line vote. After that, big business will control the internet like never before.