Explores issues with the regulation of internet providers as common carriers by the Federal Communications Commission.
creator
Wlos, Joseph M.
Title
Uncommon Carriers: The Effective Regulation of Net Neutrality
advisor
Sala, Gemma
supporting host
Grinnell College. Political Science Department.
Index Date
2015
Date Created
2015-02-16
Publisher
Grinnell College
Type of Resource
text
Genre
research paper
Digital Origin
reformated digital
Digital Extent
19 pages
Media Type
application/pdf
description
Since the 1600s, legal experts have defined common carriers as commercial services with important private and public roles, requiring government regulation to ensure equal treatment of customers. Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates some, but not all, Internet service providers as common carriers, a legal classification that ensures net neutrality, an important protection for Internet content companies and consumers. However, the FCC has struggled to enforce net neutrality, because the FCC’s poor classification decisions have conflicted with the FCC’s statutorily mandated powers. First, this paper examines the quirky historical development of common carrier status. Second, this paper argues that Congress’s circular language in the Communications Act of 1934 has been the greatest obstacle to the successful enforcement of net neutrality. To prevent future regulatory struggles over this vital consumer protection, this paper concludes that two solutions offer the best long-term hope for securing net neutrality: a legislative update of the common carrier classification in the Communications Act of 1934 and or a First Amendment legal campaign against content blocking and discrimination on the Internet.
Language
English
Topic
Communications Act of 1934
Topic
Carriers
Topic
Network neutrality
Topic
Telecommunication policy
Topic
United States. Federal Communications Commission
Geographic
United States
Temporal
21st century
Temporal
20th century
Related Item
Digital Grinnell
Related Item
Frederick Baumann Essay Prize
Identifier (local)
grinnell:11386
Access Condition
Copyright to this work is held by the author(s), in accordance with United States copyright law (USC 17). Readers of this work have certain rights as defined by the law, including but not limited to fair use (17 USC 107 et seq.).
