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Net Neutrality Reloaded
Luca Belli Editor Net Neutrality Reloaded: Net Neutrality Reloaded: Zero Rating, Specialised Service, Ad Blocking and Traffic Management Zero Rating, Specialised Service, Annual Report of the UN IGF Dynamic Coalition on Net Neutrality Ad Blocking and Traffic Management Luca Belli Editor Annual Report of the UN IGF This Report is the 2016 outcome of the IGF Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality (DCNN). The Report gathers a series of case studies on a variety Dynamic Coalition of net neutrality issues from the perspective of different stakeholders. The double purpose of this report is to trigger meaningful discussion on net on Net Neutrality neutrality trends, while providing informative material that may be used by researchers, policy-makers and civil society alike. Researchers, practitioners and policy-makers regularly contribute to the DCNN report, providing a wide range of heterogeneous views. Preface by Tim Wu In 2016, Zero Rating was by large the most debated net neutrality issue, as reflected by the considerable number of contributions focusing on the topic within this report. Such high number of analyses on zero rating seems particularly useful to meet the increasing demand of research exploring the pros and cons of price discrimination practices. Furthermore, the report examines other very relevant and discussed topics, such as specialised services, ad blocking and reasonable traffic management, providing useful insight on some of the most recent policy evolutions in a variety of countries. Net Neutrality Reloaded: Zero Rating, -
Zero-Rating Practices in Broadband Markets
Zero-rating practices in broadband markets Report by Competition EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Competition E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1049 Brussels [Cataloguenumber] Zero-rating practices in broadband markets Final report February 2017 Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). LEGAL NOTICE The information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. Les informations et opinions exprimées dans ce rapport sont ceux de(s) l'auteur(s) et ne reflètent pas nécessairement l'opinion officielle de la Commission. La Commission ne garantit pas l’exactitude des informations comprises dans ce rapport. La Commission, ainsi que toute personne agissant pour le compte de celle-ci, ne saurait en aucun cas être tenue responsable de l’utilisation des informations contenues dans ce rapport. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017 Catalogue number: KD-02-17-687-EN-N ISBN 978-92-79-69466-0 doi: 10.2763/002126 © European Union, 2017 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. -
Throttle Me Not: 2015 Open Internet Order Protects Unlimited Data Plan Users
American University Business Law Review Volume 5 | Issue 2 Article 6 2017 Throttle eM Not: 2015 Open Internet Order Protects Unlimited Data Plan Users Shawn Marcum American University Washington College of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aublr Part of the Business Organizations Law Commons, Commercial Law Commons, and the Communications Law Commons Recommended Citation Marcum, Shawn "Throttle eM Not: 2015 Open Internet Order Protects Unlimited Data Plan Users," American University Business Law Review, Vol. 5, No. 2 () . Available at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aublr/vol5/iss2/6 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in American University Business Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COMMENTS THROTTLE ME NOT: 2015 OPEN INTERNET ORDER PROTECTS UNLIMITED DATA PLAN USERS SHAWN MARCUM* Cellphone carriers, also known as mobile broadband Internet access service ("BIAS') providers, often implement throttlingpolicies to avoid investing in infrastructuraldevelopment and to save on their bottom line. Throttling is an intentional action to degrade or limit one's access to the Internet, and speed limits are a great analogy to throttling policies. The most visible throttlingpolices affect unlimited data plan users, where mobile BIAS providers choose to severely degrade unlimited data users' access speed to the Internet once they reach a specified data cap-a limit on the amount of data a user may use within a pay period However, by definition, an unlimited data plan cannot have a data cap. -
Policy Issues in Data Caps and Usage-Based Pricing
Policy Issues in Data Caps and Usage-Based Pricing Economic Impacts of Open Internet Frameworks Working Group Open Internet Advisory Committee Federal Communications Commission Released August 20, 2013 Full Annual Report of the Open Internet Advisory Committee available here Open Internet Advisory Committee - 2013 Annual Report Policy Issues in Data Caps and Usage-Based Pricing FCC Open Internet Advisory Committee Working Group on Economic Impacts of Open Internet Frameworks Prepared for the meeting on July 9, 2013 The following report on Data Caps was prepared by the Economic Impacts working group in reaction to the press coverage and strong consumer sentiment regarding caps on data plans. Table of Contents Topics Covered…………………………….…….……………………...………………..……..Page 2 Definitions……..………………………………………………..…...…………………………..Page 2 The Report and Order on UBP………………………...…..……………………………..……Page 4 Competition………………………………………..…...………………………………………..Page 5 Caps: The Facts………………..………………………...………….…………………………...Page 6 The Perception of Users……………………...…………………………………………...…...Page 12 User Control………………………………...……………………………………………….....Page 13 The Perception of ISPs……………………...………………..………..………………………Page 14 UBP and Price Discrimination……………………...…….…………………………………..Page 15 Managing Network Growth…………………….…………...………………………………...Page 15 Managing Instantaneous Congestion………………………..........………………………….Page 16 Perception of Edge Providers…………………...………………...………………………..…Page 17 Specialized Services and Edge Providers…………………………...……………………..…Page 18 Summary………………………………………………………………...…………………......Page -
The Fcc Restoring Internet Freedom Order and Zero Rating Or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Market
THE FCC RESTORING INTERNET FREEDOM ORDER AND ZERO RATING OR: HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE MARKET Daniel A. Schuleman TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction ......................................................................................... 149 II. Background ......................................................................................... 151 A. What is Net Neutrality? ............................................................... 151 B. Net Neutrality Around the World ................................................ 152 C. Net Neutrality in the United States .............................................. 153 D. Net Neutrality Under the Trump Administration and the Repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order...................................... 156 E. Zero Rating .................................................................................. 159 1. Arguments for Zero Rating Plans .......................................... 159 2. Arguments Against Zero Rating Plans .................................. 160 III. Analysis ............................................................................................... 163 A. T-Mobile Case Study Demonstrates Non-Neutral Internet Practices ....................................................................................... 163 B. Internet as a Utility in the Abstract .............................................. 164 IV. Recommendation ................................................................................ 165 V. Conclusion ......................................................................................... -
The Relationship Between Net Neutrality and Local News
Slowing Down the Presses: The Relationship Between Net Neutrality and Local News Adam Hersh | December 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 I. The Modern World of Local News 3 A. Legacy Local News Providers Are in Trouble 5 B. Online Local News Is Still in Its Infancy 9 II. Eliminating Strong Net Neutrality Rules Would Make It Harder to Rejuvenate Local News 10 A. Access Fees 12 B. Blocking 16 C. Discrimination 19 D. Paid Prioritization 23 E. Zero Rating 28 Conclusion 34 Introduction In 2011, the FCC released The Information Needs of Communities, a lengthy report on the state of American local news in the world of the internet.1 The report detailed a legacy media landscape struggling to adapt to the challenges of the internet, and a surprising dearth of online news sources coming in to fill the gap. The report also presented a series of policy recommendations designed to spur a more robust digital news ecosystem. Among them was a brief reference to the “open Internet debate” going on at the time: The open Internet debate has several implications for news. First, if the Internet were to evolve toward a tiered system in which preferred customers get better service, it could end up privileging certain types of content over others without regard to consumer demand. Public and nonprofit media would be particularly vulnerable, as it is likely that such a structure would reward established, well- heeled companies over less-well-capitalized start-ups, possibly commercial over nonprofits. It also is plausible that a broadband Internet provider with strong political views might wish to minimize the dissemination of antithetical viewpoints. -
The FCC's Authority to Preempt State Laws Under the Communications
Stepping In: The FCC’s Authority to Preempt State Laws Under the Communications Act Updated September 20, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R46736 SUMMARY R46736 Stepping In: The FCC’s Authority to Preempt September 20, 2021 State Laws Under the Communications Act Chris D. Linebaugh The line between federal and state authority plays a central role in modern communications law. Legislative Attorney Rather than fully displacing state law, the Communications Act of 1934 (Communications Act or Act) sets up a dual system of federal and state regulation. At the federal level, the Eric N. Holmes Communications Act gives the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Legislative Attorney broad authority to regulate wired and wireless telephony, radio transmissions, cable services, and matters that are ancillary to these areas. At the same time, however, the Act expressly preserves some state regulatory authority over these technologies. Consequently, the boundary between the FCC’s authority and the states’ has been a source of dispute. The FCC has the upper hand in such conflicts. The Communications Act gives the FCC broad regulatory authority and, along with it, the ability to preempt state laws that conflict with or frustrate its regulatory actions. When the FCC is acting within its proper statutory authority, the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause ensures that its actions prevail. Nevertheless, the FCC’s statutory preemption authority is not boundless. The extent to which the FCC may displace state and local laws is limited by the scope of its regulatory jurisdiction, express statutory provisions preserving or defining the scope of state laws, and interpretive presumptions that courts have applied to preserve the usual constitutional balance between the federal and state governments. -
The Economics of Data Caps and Free Data Services in Mobile Broadband
THE ECONOMICS OF DATA CAPS AND FREE DATA SERVICES IN MOBILE BROADBAND August 17, 2016 by William P. Rogerson Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Market Economics Northwestern University Funding for this paper was provided by CTIA® (ctia.org). The opinions expressed are those of the author. About the Author William P. Rogerson is the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Market Economics at Northwestern University. He received his Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the California Institute of Technology in 1980. He has served for two terms as Chair of Northwestern’s Department of Economics and is currently Research Director for Competition, Antitrust and Regulation of Northwestern’s Searle Center for Law, Regulation and Economic Growth and Director of Northwestern’s Business Institutions Program. In addition to serving as the FCC’s Chief Economist in 1998-1999, he has been an active participant in telecom transactions before the FCC, including Comcast/NBC Hughes and AT&T/Leap as well as various rulemaking proceedings. Most recently he served as Senior Economist to the FCC for the Comcast/Time Warner Cable, AT&T/DirecTV and Charter/Time Warner Cable transactions. OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 2. CURRENT USE OF DATA CAPS AND FREE DATA SERVICES A. Data Caps . 5 B. Free Data Services . 7 3. THERE ARE HIGH LEVELS OF COMPETITION IN MOBILE BROADBAND MARKETS A. Four Robust Competitive Alternatives Are Available to Most Consumers of Mobile Broadband Services . 10 B. There Are High Levels of Price and Non-Price Rivalry in the Mobile Broadband Industry . 11 C. -
Study on Net-Neutrality Regulation
BoR (17) 159 Final public report for BEREC Study on net-neutrality regulation 18 September 2017 James Allen, Andrew Daly, J. Scott Marcus, David de Antonio Monte, Robert Woolfson Ref: 2009152-254 . Study on net-neutrality regulation Contents 1 Executive summary 1 1.1 Background and purpose of the work 1 1.2 Overview of approach to tackling net neutrality in each country 1 1.3 Case studies of monitoring tools and techniques 3 1.4 Lessons learnt and concluding remarks 4 2 Introduction 6 2.1 Aim of the study 6 2.2 Summary of net neutrality 6 2.3 Approach to conducting the study 7 2.4 Structure of this document 7 3 Approach to tackling net neutrality in benchmark countries 8 3.1 The evolution of net-neutrality rules over time 8 3.2 Non-net-neutral practices 11 3.3 Transparency obligations on ISPs in relation to practices which may affect net neutrality 19 3.4 Monitoring and supervision by NRAs 22 3.5 Legal mechanisms for enforcement of net neutrality by NRAs 24 3.6 Reporting by NRAs 25 4 Case studies 26 4.1 Chile: Adkintun 26 4.2 Chile: Sistema de Transferencia de Información (STI) 27 4.3 USA: Netalyzr 28 4.4 USA: Measuring Broadband America programme 28 5 Lessons learnt and concluding remarks 33 Annex A Tools and techniques available to detect and characterise non-net-neutral practices Ref: 2009152-254 . Study on net-neutrality regulation Copyright © 2017. Analysys Mason Limited has produced the information contained herein for BEREC. The ownership, use and disclosure of this information are subject to the Commercial Terms contained in the contract between Analysys Mason Limited and BEREC. -
State Responses to Net Neutrality
State Responses to Net Neutrality Kathryn J. Kline National Regulatory Research Institute [19–03] Acknowledgments The author wishes to thank Commissioner emeritus Travis Kavulla Elin Katz, Connecticut Consumer Counsel and President of NASUCA Jon Banks, formerly of US Telecomm Timothy Karr of Free Press Cynthia G. Wilson-Frias, Deputy Chief of Legal Services for the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission Adam Bender, Communications Daily Dr. Victor Glass, Rutgers University Kenneth Mallory, Esq., Legislative Affairs Counsel at NARUC Marianne Townsend and Jason Well, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Dr. Carl Pechman, National Regulatory Research Institute and my indefatigable colleague, Dr. Sherry Lichtenberg, for her guidance and feedback throughout the writing process. State Responses to Net Neutrality | 1 Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ..........................................................3 II. Purpose of this Document .....................................................5 III. Context ....................................................................6 A. Legislative and Regulatory Context ...........................................6 B. NARUC on Net Neutrality, a State Regulatory Perspective .........................9 IV. The State Response .........................................................11 A. Executive Orders on Net Neutrality ..........................................11 B. Legislative Resolutions ....................................................12 C. Legislative Bills ..........................................................13 -
Data Caps: Creating Artificial Scarcity As a Way Around Network Neutrality Robert Klein
Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal Volume 31 | Issue 1 Article 4 January 2015 Data Caps: Creating Artificial Scarcity as a Way Around Network Neutrality Robert Klein Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj Recommended Citation Robert Klein, Data Caps: Creating Artificial Scarcity as a Way Around Network Neutrality, 31 Santa Clara High Tech. L.J. 139 (2015). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol31/iss1/4 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 12_COMMENT_KLEIN (DO NOT DELETE) 3/14/2015 4:05 PM COMMENT Data Caps: Creating Artificial Scarcity as a Way Around Network Neutrality Robert Klein† Data caps enable Internet service providers (ISPs) use data caps to sell blocks of data to customers, creating an artificial scarcity to monetize an otherwise valueless commodity. ISPs will then further monetize on data caps by selling content providers data-cap-free access to the ISP's customers. This could be seen as a violation of network neutrality principles since network traffic would no longer be treated equally. Conversely, it could be seen as a way to manage ever- increasing Internet traffic. This article first explores the arguments for and against data caps as a means for maintaining the network's traffic flow from the perspective of the consumer, the content provider, and the ISP. -
8 the Effect of Data Caps Upon ISP Service Tier
i i i i The Effect of Data Caps upon ISP Service Tier Design and Users WEI DAI and SCOTT JORDAN, University of California, Irvine We model the design and impact of Internet pricing plans with data caps. We consider a monopoly ISP that maximizes its profit by setting tier prices, tier rates, network capacity, data caps, and overage charges. We show that when data caps are used to maximize profit, a monopoly ISP will keep the basic tier price the same, increase the premium tier rate, and decrease the premium tier price and the basic tier rate. We give analytical and numerical results to illustrate the increase in ISP profit, and the corresponding changes in user tier choices, user surplus, and social welfare. Categories and Subject Descriptors: C.2.2 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Network Protocols 8 General Terms: Economics, Management, Performance Additional Key Words and Phrases: Charging, pricing, business models ACM Reference Format: Dai, W. and Jordan, S. 2015. The effect of data caps upon ISP tier design and users. ACM Trans. Internet Technol. 15, 2, Article 8 (June 2015), 28 pages. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2774973 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, it has become common for wireless Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the United States to place caps on the monthly usage of cellular data plans. Some wireline ISPs have also started placing caps on monthly usage of their broadband service offerings. The data caps often differ by the tier of the plan and are often in the range of 50GB to 500GB per month [Higginbotham 2012].