February 14, 2018

By Apsu Lewis
“A Timeline of Net Neutrality”

Create a timeline of Net Neutrality with at least 5 moments in the history of the regulation. Each
moment should include three things:
1. A date
2. A sentence or two describing what happened
3. A link to your source
Be sure to include the most recent changes
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1) December 10, 2010... The fundamentals of Net Neutrality were established. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) approved the “Open Internet Order” which prohibited
cable and telephone providers from blocking access to competitor sites. It was followed by a
more formalized version on December 21, 2010, known as the Six Net Neutrality Principles.

Source: "Net neutrality in the United States".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality_in_the_United_States

2) February 26 2015… After 3.5 million people requested internet regulations, the FCC
introduced a new set of rules. Broadband was to be reclassified as a telecommunication
service and regulations were put in place to ensure Internet Service Provider’s (ISP's) treated
all internet traffic equally.
More specifically, ISP's were prohibited from:
 Blocking users from any legal sites;
 Throttling or slowing down traffic discriminately to any site; or
 Offering faster service as preferential treatment to users that could pay more.
A final ruling was made on April 13, 2015, and went into effect on June 12, 2015.

Source: "A Timeline of Net Neutrality in the United States and What It All Means".
By Q.C. Crea. 19 Dec 2017. Cyber Security News.
https://www.colocationamerica.com/blog/category/cyber-security

3) January 23, 2017… The Trump administration appointed Ajit Pai as the new FCC Chairman.
As a major critic of the 2015 Open Internet Order, it was clear that Pai would be a great ally
to the ISP's. ISP's have been lobbying against Net Neutrality seeking to increase profits by
charging more to those who use more data. Pai stated that he planned to "modernize" FCC
policies to "match the reality of the modern marketplace".

Source: “A Timeline of the FCC’s Quest To Destroy Net Neutrality”.

By Devin Coldewey. Dec 14, 2017.
https://techcrunch.com/timeline/a-timeline-of-the-fccs-quest-to-destroy-net-neutrality/slide/1/
4) April 26, 2017 – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announces plan to reverse Title II regulations on
appeal. The plan was named the "Restoring Internet Freedom" order. Pai’s supporters would
argue that it would “encourage innovation and investment by removing heavy regulatory
burdens”. The critics feared it would empower ISP’s to choose what people see or don't see
online.

Source: “US Faces Moment of Truth on 'Net Neutrality'”. December 14, 2017.
https://phys.org/news/2017-12-moment-truth-net-neutrality.amp

5) December 14, 2017… the FCC voted in favor of repealing these policies, 3–2. The ruling’s
description stated: “Restoring Internet Freedom – Reverses Title II Framework to Spur
Investment, Innovation, and Competition; Increases Transparency to Protect Consumers”.
This ruling essentially released restrictions on ISP’s pricing strategies and returned
jurisdiction to the Federal Trade Commission. The FCC published the official text for
document FCC-17-166 on January 4, 2018.

Source: "Restoring Internet Freedom". Jan 4, 2018. Document Numbers: DA/FCC: FCC-17-
166. Wireline Competition.
https://www.fcc.gov/restoring-internet-freedom