Network Neutrality Proponents Warn of Loopholes

With maneuvers such as exempting specific services from their data caps, cable and phone companies can arguably find ways to favor certain content. That raises questions about how strictly Internet equality can be enforced, even if the Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality rules survive their current tough court challenge.

Many of the practices are “subject to abuse and…a way to favor your own content and disfavor that of rivals,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, a group that promotes open Internet policies. The FCC’s net-neutrality rules don’t prohibit providers from waiving customers’ data caps for specific content, even though that gives customers a powerful incentive to choose that content. Instead, the FCC says it will examine such practices on a case-by-case basis.