 Recently, the Federal Communications Commission decided to regulate all internet providers as common carriers. It's a major decision, and some people are already calling it a government takeover of the internet, but the move itself is pretty simple. Under these rules, internet providers will have to operate by the same rules as landline phone companies. All phone calls are treated in the same way, you can't pay for special priority, and under these rules that'll be true of web traffic too. That means Comcast can't throttle a service just because it's using a lot of bandwidth, or ask you to pay extra to use a fast lane through the congested web. So how did we get here? It starts in 1934, when FDR signed the Communications Act. Title II of the act designated services like telephones as common carriers, which means they had to treat all the traffic on the network equally. They couldn't block a call just because you were saying nasty things about the phone company. In 1980, the Computer II policies made things a little bit more complicated. Suddenly, not everyone was a common carrier, there were also enhanced services that could get away with a little bit more. As the web heated up, that became a real division. There were enhanced services like AOL, and ISPs that still had to abide by Title II. The enhanced services made a lot more money off a lot less investment, and the ISPs were understandably peeved. But the title designation changed in 2002. For some legal confusion, cable broadband was redefined as an information service, effectively exempting the most popular consumer internet providers from common carrier rules. In 2005, DSL and wireless got the same exemption. At the same time, the FCC established a set of open internet rules meant to keep discrimination from getting out of hand. But the principles were pretty weak, and in 2007, Comcast broke them, slowing down bit torrent traffic to avoid congesting the network with illegal downloads. The FCC didn't like that, and they went back and forth with Comcast in the courts for years. In the end, they lost. The court ruled the Communications Act didn't give the FCC enough power to tell Comcast what to do. After that defeat, the FCC issued new open internet rules meant to explicitly outlaw discrimination, but it was only three years before those were struck down by another court challenge. That left the FCC with few options for preserving an open web, and after sustained public pressure, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler finally signaled that he would regulate web providers under the authorities granted by Title II. And at an FCC meeting in February, he carried through on that promise. This is a big win for net neutrality, but it's not the end of the fight. Companies like Comcast and Verizon have already hinted that they may file a joint lawsuit challenging Wheeler's decision. With as much money at stake, it's likely the issue will be fought out in courts for years to come, potentially reaching as high as the Supreme Court. We still don't know for sure how it will all shake out, but after this decision, the odds are good that the web will stay open and free. I will call for the yeas and nays. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. The ayes have it. The ayes have it.