Gate – Gizmodo

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was killed. net neutrality in 2017 under former President Donald Trump, but on Thursday he brought him back from the dead.

Net neutrality—the principle that Internet providers should treat all traffic equally and not restrict or block specific traffic for any reason—came back into effect after the FCC Act voted 3-2 to reinstate it. This restores rules first established in 2015 that regulate telecommunications companies and prohibit blocking or throttling certain lawful content.

In addition to preventing ISPs from throttling or blocking traffic, the FCC also added language intended to stop companies from prioritizing specific traffic. With 5G technology, telecommunications companies can do what it is called cutting the net, which can create multiple virtual subnets and prioritize certain 5G customers over others, depending on whether they have paid a premium subscription with the provider. The 2015 regulations did not focus on this concept because 5G was not as popular then as it is today.

The FCC will also be able to stop foreign-owned entities that may pose a threat to national security from operating broadband networks. And if networks go down, preventing workers, businesses and even students from doing their jobs, the commission could get involved.

As expected, ISPs are not going to take this lightly and will use the options available to them to prevent net neutrality from occurring.

“This is not a problem for broadband consumers who have enjoyed the open internet for decades,” said Jonathan Spalter, president of broadband lobbying group USTelecom. New York Times Thursday.

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