Here’s What Happens When Broadband Companies “Self-Regulate”
Network neutrality is on the cusp, and one drum that continues to beat FCC Chairman Ajit Pye is the idea that, without government intervention, broadband companies like your ISP and wireless carrier will regulate themselves. Let’s see what history has to say about this.
Broadband companies are already some of the most hated companies in America , but history tells us that they can be hated even more.
There is a lot of exaggeration and party nonsense on both sides of the net neutrality debate right now, but instead of looking to the future, let’s look to the past. The crux of the FCC’s claim against the need for net neutrality is that broadband companies will regulate themselves through competition without the need for any regulation. So, are they there? Of course not.
Here is just a small, non-exhaustive list of tricks that broadband companies have used over the years, both in the years of net neutrality and in the past: