On Monday in Washington, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveiled some details into the definition and enforcement of Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality, as famously mentioned in Amanda Congdon’s final episode of Rocketboom, is the idea that an internet provider cannot block certain websites, but allow others. This model is the opposite of how the cable industry works, with priority placement of big name networks (CNN, MTV, A&E, etc) while pushing niche networks to higher channel number, or not at all.
The FCC, under Democratic leadership since Barack Obama became President, is preaching open access to communication. This is clearly a very different approach than how the commission operated during the Bush administration.
Clearly, the defining moment of the FCC during Bush’s reign can be summed up by two words: Janet Jackson. The 2004 incident, which took place during the Super Bowl halftime show, resulted in Jackson’s bare breast being shown, albeit for a very brief moment. The FCC chose to fine CBS, because it was “indecent”. Most news from the FCC during this era was about fining broadcasters for indecency, although there never were (and still currently isn’t) specific guidelines on what by law is considered decent or indecent. This was a large part of Howard Stern’s rhetoric, to the point where he took his highly rated radio show and moved it to Sirius Satellite radio, to greater freedom of speech, but a significantly smaller listener base.
The FCC is now working to make sure that content isn’t blocked, unlike the previous administration, which sought out to block content.
Do you think that there should be concrete decency/indecency standards? Should broadband providers be allowed to block content it doesn’t approve of (like P2P servers)? Discuss.
