Mozilla Offers FCC a Net Neutrality Plan With a Twist

An anonymous reader writes "The Mozilla Foundation is filing a petition asking the FCC to declare that ISPs are common carriers, with a twist. 'The FCC doesn't have to reclassify the Internet access ISPs offer consumers as a telecommunications service subject to common carrier regulations under Title II of the Communications Act, Mozilla says. Instead, the FCC should target the service ISPs offer to edge providers like Netflix and Dropbox, who need to send their bits over ISP networks to reach their customers. Classifying the ISP/edge provider relationship as a common carrier service will be a little cleaner since the FCC wouldn't have to undo several decade-old orders that classified broadband as an "information" service rather than telecommunications, Mozilla argues.'" Here's the Mozilla blog post and the 13-page petition.

Comments

Swing...and a miss

[pixelpusher220]

since the FCC wouldn't have to undo several decade-old orders that classified broadband as an "information" service rather than telecommunications

But that's the problem. They are telecommunications services and not fixing that bad decision is just lipstick on a pig.

ISPs are Shady

[mfh]

FTA:

We ask the FCC to recognize that technological evolution has led to two distinct relationships in the last mile of the network: the current one, between an ISP and an end user, which is unchanged, plus a “remote delivery” service offered by an ISP to an edge provider (Dropbox, in the image), connecting the provider to all of the ISP’s end users.

I think the problem here is that the ISPs want to be big media but they are really only telecoms trying to step out of line and disrupt the flow of information to get more money. They are greedy pigs. We should nationalize them all and simply take over their operations. They are EXACTLY LIKE traffic lights to be quite honest.

Would you want your highway/city traffic information management operated by competing corporations?

Would you want your city and state police run by competing corporations?

We have tolerated ISPs for too long. Nationalize.

Please, imagine if you had to deal with Comcast to get from your house to work every day.

Those of us who work virtually this is EXACTLY what we are doing.

Re:ISPs are Shady

[Gr8Apes]

Why should we nationalize ISPs? In our case, the ISPs are not behaving properly because the regulations give too much and take only what the ISP does not care about. Try appropriate regulation.

Appropriate regulation would be to restrict ISPs to only providing connectivity services to the end-user. No ownership of content or other services of any kind. Much like electricity providers cannot also run the grid unless they're a monopoly. No one can realistically compete with them since if the generation costs for the competition are undercutting the grid provider's price, they can merely up the access fees. Regulate them there, you say? There's far too many shenanigans going on with GAAP to have that come out any differently under regulation, and far more opportunity for corruption and fleecing.

Re:ISPs are Shady

[interkin3tic]

Exactly! It would be MUCH BETTER than what we're getting from comcast!

Re:ISPs are Shady

[Anonymous Coward]

The solution is not nationalization, it is a ban on corporate lobbying, competition and strict rules that protect the consumer. Businesses do well when they are forced to compete and they rarely misbehave if the penalties outweigh the benefits. If companies want some legislation passed, they should be forced to lobby the people. If their desire is beneficial for all and makes sense, then let the people lobby their representatives. The entire lobby industry the way it is now is just inherently corrupt.

Re:There's no financial incentive to play fair

[GameboyRMH]

First they came for Netflix...

Re:There's no financial incentive to play fair

[ArhcAngel]

Netflix has its own CDN! They are a large enough streaming provider it made sense to create their own CDN and they even made it open for other services. They're already peering on Google fiber and a host of non-US ISP's. It's only the big US ISP's that are refusing to play ball and insist Netflix pay extra for a service that would actually save them money in peering fees. Their only reason for doing this is to make their competing streaming offering more desirable.