President Obama promised voters that network neutrality would be a cornerstone of his governance during his election run. Enterprise Networking Planet takes a closer look at the issues and obstacles facing Net neutrality proponents and its outspoken opponents.
Long-frustrated network neutrality advocates headed into 2009 with high hopes. After all, there was a new administration headed by a man whose campaign promises included the assurance that he would “take a backseat to no one” on the issue, a decidedly Democratic Congress and a general warming to the idea that unfettered access to content and applications on the Internet was somehow essential to the new economy and the sacrosanct rights of the First Amendment.
In many ways, they weren’t disappointed.
But the gears in Washington turn slowly, and, for all the talk and proposals, 2009 saw little material action on the Net neutrality front. Next year will be different.
In the first half of 2010, likely spring, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, if approved, would represent the firmest action the federal government has yet taken on Net neutrality.