Network Neutrality: Who's In Charge Of The Internet?

Next month, Congress will meet to discuss proposals to revamp current telecommunication laws that were last examined in 1996. The current laws hardly mention the Internet; the "bipartisan, issue-focused meetings" announced by Sen John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) will examine whether they address current consumer needs. Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it plans to reclassify broadband Internet service as a telecommunications service so that high-speed Internet would be closely monitored by the FCC. The reclassification would also give the FCC control over net neutrality, the idea that information on the Web should be treated equally and cannot be blocked by broadband providers.

Journalist Amy Schatz, who covers tech policy and the FCC for The Wall Street Journal, explains the conflicts between the FCC, Internet companies and telecommunications providers like Comcast and Verizon — and how their battle might determine what the future of the Internet looks like. "Basically, the idea here is: Who is going to control those lines that go into your house?" Schatz tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "And there's never really been any rules that talk expressly to Internet lines because we've relied on rules that were [applicable to] phones, but it really gets into a really big issue as more Americans use the Internet to make phone calls or watch movies or just connect with their kids and e-mail and things like that, so it's becoming a really big issue."