A funny thing happened to some Netflix streaming-video subscribers earlier this year. Suddenly, they could watch an entire movie without it stuttering, buffering or freezing.
And they didn’t have to do a thing. The Netflix bill didn’t increase. And, most likely, neither did the consumer’s monthly Internet bill.
While the consumer is happy, this created more divisiveness in the already contentious Net neutrality debate. Netflix had agreed to pay Comcast to connect to its customers, which seemed counter to the idea of a neutral Internet where all data is treated the same.
We’ve reached Net limbo.
The Federal Communications Commission is sorting it all out right now as it overhauls the Open Internet rules, also known as Net neutrality, that govern the Internet as we’ve known it. A decision is expected next year.
“There’s been strong incentive for the (Internet service providers) to be on their best behavior. The last thing they want to do is hand over evidence to the FCC that these rules are necessary,” said Blake Reid, assistant clinical professor of telecom law at the University of Colorado at Boulder law school. “The battle has led to a useful stalemate.”
At issue is not the Internet but what is called the “last mile,” which are the pipes that carry data from your ISP to your house. But that last mile often gets congested because an ISP’s pipes tend to be smaller than the main Internet backbone where data travels all over the globe.
The rules of Net neutrality, which are in limbo until the U.S. Federal Communications Commission comes up with a new plan, prevent ISPs from blocking or discriminating against data.
ISPs must treat each bit of data equally so that, for example, Time Warner, which owns HBO, can’t give HBO specials streaming priority over Netflix movies.
For the most part, ISPs are on one side of the debate: They don’t want more regulation. Content companies, such as Netflix and Google, support the rules because they want to make sure their content gets to customers just as fast as competing content.
Companies such as Comcast point to billion-dollar investments to improve a consumer’s service that they say are only possible because of light-handed federal regulation.
But Internet backbone companies, such as Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications, say the congestion is often in the ISP’s own pipe.
Level 3 general counsel Michael Mooney said the problem could be solved for as little as $5,000 per connection point.
“But the ISP is not allowing that,” he said.
The debate became even more politicized last week when President Barack Obama for stronger Net neutrality rules and asked the FCC to reclassify broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the rules “Obama-care for the Internet.”
Comcast responded with a blog post titled, ” ” — except for that part about regulating broadband. “Reclassification is not necessary to put in place strong and enforceable Open Internet protections,” Comcast wrote.
Without regulations, Net neutrality supporters say, you must trust Comcast to do what’s right for consumers.
“I don’t think the average person on the street gives a damn, and I can understand that. It’s so complicated. Why should you care,” said James Hood, founder and editor of ConsumerAffairs.com, a consumer news and advocacy organization. “But the same thing happened in the Telecom Act, and a bunch of bad stuff got in. Some of that was even well intentioned, but it enabled scam artists.”
Hood doesn’t want more regulation, but he knows Netflix is responsible for a huge chunk of Internet traffic. Market researcher Sandvine Inc. said Netflix made up 34.2 percent of all Internet traffic at peak hours in the first half this year.
“You could say Netflix is getting a free ride,” Hood said. “I think (Obama’s) proposal is the heavy boot of the state coming down on this a bit too hard. And at the same time, it doesn’t do enough to clarify what I said — carriers should be on one side, content on the other.”
There’s a fear that companies who own content and provide Internet service — such as Comcast, which owns NBC — could favor streaming their content over a competitor such as Netflix.
Regardless if you’re a Republican or Democrat, a cable customer or cord cutter, or a PC fan or Mac user, the Net-neutrality debate has become a hot topic.
“During one of the FCC votes, (Commissioner) Mig-non Clyburn said this is the first time her mother asked her about something,” said CU-Boulder’s Reid. “I hear friends ask, ‘What about that Net neutrality? I saw it on (HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” ) last night.’ I think it really does matter to people. The Internet has become so pervasive in everybody’s lives.”
And yes, Reid, too, has “talked a lot with my mom about it.”
People have been speaking out — 4 million of them. The FCC, which in May adopted a proposal that could let ISPs charge extra for content requiring heavier bandwidth use, agreed to from the public. On Friday, people were still making comments.
“You saw 4 million people file comments with the FCC. That’s pretty amazing,” Reid said. “To get more than 100 comments on something is pretty rare.”
In Longmont, the city isn’t thinking about Net neutrality. It recently became the state’s first “gigabit city,” having built its own fiber-optic lines. It offers gigabit Internet — both ways — for $49.95 a month, a charter special. Otherwise, it’s about $99 a month.
“We don’t have plans or any reason to prioritize or discriminate based on content or service,” said Tom Roiniotis, general manager of Longmont Power & Communications. “And the reason why we don’t is we’re building a 100 percent state-of-the-art fiber-optic system. Bandwidth is not an issue for us. It’s our strength. A lot of other broadband companies are struggling with bandwidth because they don’t have the infrastructure we have.”
If everyone upgrades, capacity issues may diminish. But the future is what’s driving today’s support and opposition of Net neutrality.
“But what comes after Netflix?” asked Reid. “I have little doubt that if we had a nonneutral Internet, Netflix will figure out a way to get by. Google will figure out a way to get by. But what I worry about is how the next generation of entrepreneur is going to get off the ground.”
