As the FCC grappled with how to regulate network neutrality following an April court decision that diminished its authority over Internet service providers (ISPs), over the summer it began holding industry meetings. The goal was to bridge the gap between two groups that have been diametrically opposed on network neutrality: content providers fighting for an open Internet and Internet carriers fighting FCC regulation of their network management practices. Just when a stalemate seemed inevitable, on Aug. 9 content provider Google–a leading pro-net neutrality voice–and carrier Verizon broke away from the FCC talks and released their own joint legislative framework proposal.
Under the proposal, ISPs would be prohibited from “undue” discrimination against “lawful” data. They wouldn’t be allowed, as in the case that threw the FCC into uncertainty, to limit speeds to bandwidth-sucking content providers such as peer-to-peer filesharing networks, or, conversely, to allow faster speeds between users and certain content providers.
