[Advocacy Advisors] FCC approves plan to allow for paid priority on Internet

Wed May 21 05:07:54 UTC 2014

Hi all,

I wanted to provide a quick update on this now that we've had a chance to
review the 180+ page notice.

The FCC is proposing rules that would require ISPs to be transparent about
the provision of their services and prohibit blocking of lawful content and
"commercially unreasonable practices."  The FCC would determine whether
particular practices are  "commercially unreasonable" on a case-by-case
basis based on a number of factors. The rules would require ISPs to provide
a "minimum level of access" to the Internet, which is basically our current
internet connection. But they leave open the possibility of ISPs developing
"fast lanes" for businesses that negotiate deals with ISPs for faster
access (as long as the deals are not "commercially unreasonable").

Based on a recent court decision striking down the FCC's previous Open
Internet rules, the FCC may not have the power to ban fast lanes under
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, which is the basis for the
proposal. The FCC is therefore asking for comments on whether it should
reclassify ISPs as "common carriers" under Title II of the Act, which would
give it the power prohibit fast lanes. The FCC is also soliciting feedback
on whether it should expressly prohibit fast lanes.

If ISPs create fast lanes, they may not have an incentive to maintain and
develop the "slow lane." The concern is that only companies that can afford
being in a fast lane will be able to benefit from improvements, creating a
gap between large companies and nonprofits and start-ups. The Wikimedia
projects would probably not be in a fast lane for financial and policy
reasons. This means that users may get slower access to the projects than
to some other sites. The same thing may happen with blogs and various
online sources that Wikimedians rely on to develop content on the projects.

I attended a meeting earlier today about the FCC's proposal where many of
the companies and organizations that sent letters to the FCC in
anticipation of the proposal were represented. It seems that many of them
may be submitting comments in the 60 day public comment period to ask the
FCC to reclassify ISPs as "common carriers" under Title II and prohibit
fast lanes.

Best,
Yana

On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 2:48 PM, Lila Tretikov <lila at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> Yana --
>
> Would like to hear your assessment when you have it.
>
> Lila
>
>
> On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 1:11 AM, Stevie Benton <
> stevie.benton at wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> Thank you Yana, that's really helpful.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Stevie
>>
>>
>> On 15 May 2014 21:56, Yana Welinder <ywelinder at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Stevie,
>>>
>>> The FCC just released the full document:
>>> http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-14-61A1.pdf.
>>>
>>> I haven't had a chance to analyze it yet.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Yana
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 10:33 AM, Stevie Benton <
>>> stevie.benton at wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Yana,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your response, that's most helpful.
>>>>
>>>>  With regards,
>>>>
>>>> Stevie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 15 May 2014 18:28, Yana Welinder <ywelinder at wikimedia.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Stevie,
>>>>>
>>>>> The FCC voted to propose a net neutrality framework for public
>>>>> comment.  It will now take comments for two 60-day comment periods before
>>>>> approving any rules.[1]
>>>>>
>>>>>  From the limited information that they have released so far, the FCC
>>>>> is asking whether it should prohibit prioritization (i.e. fast lanes) and
>>>>> whether it needs to rely on a different provision of the Telecommunications
>>>>> Act to have the authority to regulate ISPs in this manner.
>>>>>
>>>>> It's hard to tell how this will affect the projects, particularly as
>>>>> the actual framework does not seem to be available yet.  I'll forward it to
>>>>> this list once it's published.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best,
>>>>> Yana
>>>>>
>>>>> [1]
>>>>> http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-launches-broad-rulemaking-protect-and-promote-open-internet
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:04 AM, Stevie Benton <
>>>>> stevie.benton at wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For those interested in net neutrality, the Federal Communications
>>>>>> Committee in the US has voted to allow for paid priority on the internet.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here's a link to the Washington Post article -
>>>>>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/05/15/fcc-approves-plan-to-allow-for-paid-priority-on-internet/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I believe there is now a period where public views will be sought.
>>>>>> What is interesting is if the US does implement this change it makes it
>>>>>> easier for other countries to do the same.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Do any of our friends in the US have any info on how this might
>>>>>> affect Wikimedia projects?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks and regards,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Stevie
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Stevie Benton
>>>>>> Head of External Relations
>>>>>> Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
>>>>>> @StevieBenton
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
>>>>>> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Yana Welinder
>>>>> Legal Counsel
>>>>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>>>> 415.839.6885 ext. 6867
>>>>>
>>>>> NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
>>>>> reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
>>>>> members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
>>>>> on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>
>>>>> .
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
>>>>> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Stevie Benton
>>>> Head of External Relations
>>>> Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
>>>> @StevieBenton
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
>>>> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Yana Welinder
>>> Legal Counsel
>>> Wikimedia Foundation
>>> 415.839.6885 ext. 6867
>>>
>>> NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
>>> reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
>>> members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
>>> on what this means, please see our legal disclaimer<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>
>>> .
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
>>> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Stevie Benton
>> Head of External Relations
>> Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
>> @StevieBenton
>>
>>
>>
>> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>>
>>
>> *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
>> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy_Advisors mailing list
> Advocacy_Advisors at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy_advisors
>
>

-- 
Yana Welinder
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
415.839.6885 ext. 6867
@yanatweets <https://twitter.com/yanatweets>

NOTICE: As an attorney for the Wikimedia Foundation, for legal/ethical
reasons I cannot give legal advice to, or serve as a lawyer for, community
members, volunteers, or staff members in their personal capacity. For more
on what this means, please see our legal
disclaimer<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Legal_Disclaimer>
.
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