Does Verizon's FreeBee Sponsored Data Program Thrash Net Neutrality?

[Commentary] Verizon has jumped into the recent network neutrality controversy with its own program, FreeBee Data, which exempts certain content from monthly data caps. But there is a big difference between FreeBee and T-Mobile's Binge On. In Binge On, T-Mobile picks up the cost of the extra megabytes (or gigabytes). In FreeBee—as well as AT&T Sponsored Data—the content providers pay. (Binge On is strictly for video, but the other programs are for any data.) This looks, at first glance, like it would rub up against the net neutrality policies of the Federal Communications Commission, which prohibit "paid prioritization." But as with most legal and political matters, the answer isn't so simple. A legitimate question on the part of customers: What's wrong with something being free? If I can watch videos from other online services from AOL, Hearst, or the Gameday app (the first three companies to sign on to FreeBee) to my heart's content, how is that a bad thing? The simple answer is: It's not. The longer answer: It may be unfair to competitors who can't afford to pay and may keep you from discovering those other great sites because you are focused on the free-data ones.

It's also unclear if any of these programs technically violate net neutrality. "In terms of net neutrality and whether it complies, we believe this is in accordance with the FCC rule…and it's an open service," says Verizon spokesperson Marie McGehee. And that may not be just corporate speak, according to Matt Wood, policy director of online rights advocacy organization Free Press. "They [AT&T and Verizon] are not blocking, unless we stretch it to say, you're blocked unless you pay," says Wood. "They are not speeding you up or slowing you down. It's not prioritization for pay."