>>> NET NEUTRALITY IS A CONCEPT THAT HAS BEEN GETTING A LOT OF
ATTENTION.
THAT'S LARGELY A RESULT OF CHANGES MADE BY THE FEDERAL
COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION THAT GO INTO FULL EFFECT NEXT MONTH.
THOSE CHANGES MEAN THAT INTERNET PROVIDERS COULD CHARGE MORE FOR
CERTAIN TYPES OF CONTENT AND THROTTLE ACCESS TO SPECIFIC
WEBSITES AS THEY SEE FIT.
TO FIND OUT MORE, I DISCUSSED THE INS AND OUTS OF NET
NEUTRALITY WITH COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSORS FROM U. MASS AMHERST
AND SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE.
>> IT'S BECOME MORE OF A POLITICAL TERM THAN A TECHNICAL
TERM, SO IT'S TOUGH FOR TECHNICAL PEOPLE TO DESCRIBE IT
PROPERLY, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S AS TO WHETHER OR NOT ISP'S WILL
HAVE THE ABILITY TO MANAGE TRAFFIC.
THAT WOULD INCLUDE UPGRADING TRAFFIC, MAKING IT
FASTER OR SLOWER, OR BLOCKING IT OUTRIGHT.
>> WHEN YOU SAY I.S.P., THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE GETTING YOUR
INTERNET FROM, YOUR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER, SO THAT COULD
BE A VERIZON, A COMCAST.
SO THIS ISSUE, AS YOU SAID, HAS BECOME MORE OF A POLITICAL ISSUE
TH A TECHNICAL ONE.
ANY THOUGHTS ON WHY YOU THINK THAT IS?
>> WE SEE TWO DIFFERENT, I GUESS, SPECTRUM OF INDUSTRIES
BEHIND PROPONENT AND OPPONENTS OF NET NEUTRALITY.
ON ONE SIDE WE HAVE THE CABLE COMPANIES AND ON THE OTHER SIDE
WE HAVE THE CONTENT PROVIDERS.
SOMEHOW THEY HAVE DIFFERENT POLITICAL OPINIONS, AND I
BELIEVE THIS IS WHAT'S MADE NEUTRALITY SUCH A POLITICAL
PROBLEM.
>> IT'S A RELATIVELY NEW ISSUE.
I MEAN, THIS BECAME A THING BACK IN 2015 WHEN THE OBAMA
ADMINISTRATION DECIDED WE'RE GOING TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD
AS THEY DESCRIBED IT FOR THIS CONCEPT.
BUT THEN WE SAW MORE RECENTLY WHEN THE NEW TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION CAME IN, THE F.C.C.
SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, NO, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THIS
RESTRICTION AWAY.
DO YOU SEE THIS AS TECH VERSUS TELECOM?
OR DO YOU THINK ABOUT IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY?
>> WELL, IN THE TECH VERSUS TELECOM, I AGREE, THERE'S THE
CONTENT PROVIDERS AND THERE'S THE I.S.P.'S, THE INTERNET
SERVICE PROVIDERS.
HOWEVER, YOU HAVE TO DMEEP MIND THAT THE I.S.P.SES ALSO ARE
CONTENT MAKERS AS WELL.
SO THEY'RE IN COMPETITION WITH NET
FLICKS, AND NETFLIX IS USING THEIR NET WORK TO MAKE MONEY.
SO ANY DECENT COMPANY WOULD SAY, WAIT, WE'RE PROVIDING A SERVICE
AND OUR COMPETITOR IS MAKING MONEY OFF OF OUR SERVICE, THAT'S
A PROBLEM.
SO WHAT HAPPENED WAS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND THE FCC UNDER
THEM DEFINED THE ISP'S AS COMMON CARRIERS, WHICH WOULD PUT THEM
IN THE SAME RESTRAINTS AS TELEPHONE COMPANIES.
THAT'S THE CLAUSE WE'RE FIGHTING OVER.
AND NETFLIX WROTE A LETTER TO THE F.C.C.
AND SAID WE LOST CUSTOMERS WHEN COMCAST THROTTLED
OUR TRAFFIC.
>> SO BASICALLY IT'S A HIGHWAY, IT'S WHETHER OR NOT THE SPEED
LIMIT IS SET AT 25 OR 50.
>> YES, EXACTLY.
YOU CAN THINK OF IT AS YOU'RE DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AND THERE'S
DIFFERENT SPEED LIMITS FOR DIFFERENT BRANDS OF CARS, LIKE
IF YOU'RE DRIVING A BMW, YOU COULD DRIVE UP TO LET'S SAY
100 MILES PER HOUR, BUT IF YOU HAVE OTHER CARS IT'S ONLY
50 MILES PER HOUR.
>> I THINK WITH THE HIGHWAY ANALOGY YOU HAVE TO KEEP IN
MIND, HIGHWAY IS A FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT IN THIS COUNTRY,
RIGHT?
THE HIGHWAY IN THIS CASE WOULD BE PRIVATELY OWNED.
AND COMPETITORS WOULD BE USING THAT HIGHWAY.
SO THAT'S REALLY WHAT THE FIGHT IS OVER.
AS FAR AS WHAT WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN, IF THINGS WERE TO STAND
IN NET NEUTRALITY WAS REPEALED, I THINK WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS IT
WOULD HAPPEN ON THE BACK END.
THE TELECOM COMPANIES ARE NOT DUMB ENOUGH TO CREATE FAST LANES
AND SLOW LANES FOR CUSTOMERS, BECAUSE CUSTOMERS WOULD BE
IRATE.
THEY'RE GOING TO GO TO NET FLICKS AND SAY YOU HAVE TO PUT
UP THIS MONEY BECAUSE YOU USE SO MUCH.
THE CONCERN WOULD BE IT WOULD STIFLE COMPETITION.
IF YOU HAVE A BRAND NEW COMPRESSION ENGINE THAT COULD
DELIVER VIDEO OVER THE INTERNET THAT WAS BETTER THAN NETFLIX,
WOULD THEY HAVE THE MONEY AS PART OF THEY STARTUP CAPITAL TO
PAY OFF THE I.S.P.S.
>> EXACTLY.
I SEE TWO PROBLEMS WHERE THE LACK OF NET NEUTRALITY.
ONE IS THAT SMALLER COMPANIES WON'T BE ABLE TO START THEIR
BUSINESSES BECAUSE, SAY, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH
NETFLIX BECAUSE NETFLIX HAS A LOT OF MONEY TO OFFER TO COMCAST
AND VERIZON TO SPEED UP THEIR CONNECTION, RIGHT.
AND THE SECOND PROBLEM IS WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND INTERNET
FREEDOM, BECAUSE WITHOUT NET NEUTRALITY, COMCAST, VERIZON,
THESE BROAD BAND COMPANIES CAN JUST CENSOR ANY CONTENT THEY
WANT BECAUSE THERE'S NO RULE PROTECTING THEM FROM DOING.
SO >> THESE ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS
THAT MANY PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY HOLD, WHICH IS WHY I THINK WE
SAW SENATOR ED MARKEY LEAD THE CHARGE RECENTLY, AND THE SENATE
DID OVERTURN THIS.
NOW, THE HOUSE IS GOING TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS, TOO, WHETHER
OR NOT THE HOUSE WILL BE ABLE TO BLOCK IT IN A SIMILAR WAY THE
SENATE DOES IS RIGHT NOW SORT OF SPECULATION BECAUSE IT WOULD
TAKE ALMOST 20 REPUBLICANS.
AS WE LOOK AT THE DEADLINES, THE F.C.C., THE INITIAL CHANGES THAT
WERE MADE BEGAN APRIL 23, BUT THOSE ARE REALLY SMALL CHANGES
THE LARGER ISSUE IS JUNE 11.
DO YOU THINK THE HOUSE WILL BE ABLE TO STEP IN AND MAKE A
CHANGE HERE?
>> PROBABLY NOT AND EVEN IF THEY DO IT STILL HAS TO BE SIGNED BY
THE PRESIDENT.
SUCH THOSE SMALL CHANGES BY THE WAY, DO HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR
THE CUSTOMERS.
>> IN WHAT WAY?
>> ONE OF THOSE CHANGES WAS THEY CAN ACTUALLY NOW LOG YOUR DNS
REQUESTS, THAT'S DOMAIN SERVICE, THAT WHAT TRANSLATES GOOGLE.COM
TO AN I. PENNSYLVANIA DRESS SO THEY CAN KEEP TRACK WHAT WAS
PAGES YOU'VE GONE TO.
THERE IS SOME CONCERN THAT THIS NET NEUTRALITY FIGHTATION SMOKE
SCREEN TO DO OTHER THINGS IN THE BACKGROUND LIKE THOSE MINOR
ANGES THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT.
>> ONE OTHER QUICK QUESTION, AN AREA WE HEAR A LOT OF POINT, TO
YOUR POINT ABOUT DATA PRIVATE SIVMENT WE SAW FACEBOOK AND
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA, THAT DREW A LOT CONCERN AMONG THE PUBLIC.
BUT IS THERE ONE TIP YOU COULD GIVE TO THE AVERAGE CONSUMER,
THE CHANGE THEY COULD MAKE TO MAKE THEIR PERSONAL DATA MORE
PROTECTED THAN IT MIGHT BE RIGHT NOW?
>> WHAT I CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH TO MY STUDENTS IS WHEN YOU ARE A
USER OF FACEBOOK OR GOOGLE OR, AND BELIEVE ME I'M A USER OF
GOOGLE SO I'M NOT PERFECT, BUT WHEN YOU'RE A USER OF A FREE
SERVICE, OUR NOT A CUSTOMER, YOU'RE A COMMODITY.
YOUR INFORMATION IS HOW THEY MAKE MONEY, IT'S NOT YOU SHOWING
UP AND USING IT.
SO YOU'RE NOT A CUSTOMER, YOU'RE A COMMODITY.