(Pam)
Hooray! Net neutrality is finally, well and truly, the law. The courts did not uphold industry groups’ requests to press pause on the implementation, and so as of right now, ISPs are common carriers under Title II and are not allowed to mess around with your connections.
Does that mean they’ll all behave perfectly well in perpetuity and we can live happily ever after? Well, no. Probably not. That’s not the way the world works, sadly. But it does mean that when someone breaks the rule, you can — and should — file a complaint.
The FCC has updated their new consumer help center — specifically, the internet service complaint form. Among the issues concerned consumers can complain about, the form now contains “open internet/net neutrality,” right there alphabetically between “interference” and “privacy.”
So what, specifically, qualifies as a net neutrality violation you can complain about? The FCC has guidance for that, too. In general, paraphrased, if’s a problem if there’s…
- Blocking: ISPs may not block access to any lawful content, apps, services, or devices.
- Throttling: ISPs may not slow down or degrade lawful internet traffic from any content, apps, sites, services, or devices.
- Paid prioritization: ISPs may not enter into agreements to prioritize and benefit some lawful internet traffic over the rest of it on their networks.
If your internet service provider is standing between you and the internet in any of those ways, therefore, go forth and complain.
[via Ars Technica]
by Kate Cox via Consumerist