Keep the Internet neutral and equal for all

This editorial originally appeared in the Juneau Empire July 17

In the Soviet Union, they called them ZiL lanes.

In the middle of Moscow’s well-traveled streets was a single lane bordered by thick white lines. These lines were walls no less effective than the one encircling Berlin. Outside was the general public. Inside were the black ZiL limousines that carried the Soviet elite.

The Soviet Union prided itself on its equality, but its hypocrisy was easily visible to anyone who tried to drive through its capital city.

This week, the technically minded among us have been watching as the Federal Communications Commission collects public comments on a plan to change the rules governing the Internet.

In January, a federal appeals court threw out a pair of key rules the FCC used to govern Internet access. The court said the FCC has the authority to regulate the Internet, but the rules it was using were flawed.

That’s unfortunate.

Under the FCC’s old rules, Internet providers were required to treat websites equally, a principle known as Net Neutrality. Google would load at the same speed as Yahoo! and Bing. YouTube would get the same service as Vimeo, Hulu or Netflix.

After the court ruling, there was nothing to keep companies like Comcast, Time Warner — and locally, GCI and ACS — from restricting the speeds of websites or charging those websites to keep access smooth.

As the Internet replaces television and telephone service — think of your Netflix subscription and Skype habit — companies that offer both Internet and cable TV will be under pressure to steer consumers to their own offerings.

Without regulation, we may end up with a divided Internet, one with segregated fast lanes for a handful of wealthy companies and slow lanes for the rest of us.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way the FCC is headed. In thousands of pages of dense, jargon-filled text, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed new rules that allow faster streaming for “commercially reasonable” deals.

If this is the first time you’re hearing this news, refer to the comedian and satirist John Oliver: “The cable companies have figured out the great truth about America. If you want to do something evil, put it inside something boring.”

People seem to be waking up, however.

As of Tuesday, more than 780,000 comments had been submitted to the FCC about Net Neutrality. (The record for the FCC is 1.4 million, submitted after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl.)

The most rational comments offer a simple solution for the FCC: Label Internet providers as utilities.

Here in Juneau, we don’t have any alternatives to Alaska Electric Light & Power. Heavy regulation restricts AEL&P from taking advantage of that monopoly power.

The Internet and its consumers need similar protection.

As more of us turn to the Internet for our news, entertainment and basic services, the Internet must be kept neutral, a marketplace open to everyone equally.

Thanks to the outpouring of public interest, the FCC has extended its comment deadline to Friday. We urge you to let the FCC know that you support regulating the Internet as a utility.

Visit bit.ly/1nhjFJz and enter proceeding number 14-28 in the relevant box.

You’ll be asked to enter your name and address, and once you click “Continue,” your note will become one of hundreds of thousands asking for Net Neutrality.

The Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 and the ZiL limousines went away, but if you drive in Moscow today, you’ll still see the ZiL lanes, now filled with the German sports cars of Russian officials.

If we make a mistake with the Internet now, we’ll be living with the consequences far longer than we think.