The debate over net neutrality regulation is certain to continue this year, and it's also certain to be a topic for discussion at the Free State Foundation's Twelfth Annual Telecom Policy Conference – Broadband Beyond 2020: Competition, Freedom, and Privacy. (Register here for the conference, to be held March 10 in Washington DC.)
As last year drew to a close, Senators Roger Wicker and Krysten Sinema co-authored a December 23, 2019 op-ed in the USA Today highlighting their continuing efforts to seek a congressional compromise that will protect consumers and provide clear rules regarding broadband Internet service providers' (ISPs) network management practices. The Senators' op-ed contains the practical title: "We need to prepare for internet of the future. Here's how Congress can help." Senators Wicker and Sinema offer a reasonable outlook and hope for a legislative resolution on net neutrality and Internet freedom. Many of their basic points were anticipated by former Congressman Rick Boucher back in 2015, when he addressed the need for a legislative compromise on net neutrality and Internet freedom at FSF's Seventh Annual Conference.
Right now, congressional resolution of this matter in 2020 may appear to be a long shot. But there is nothing to lose by engaging in discussions, and persistence may even lead to a breakthrough. Congress, industry, public interest groups, activists, consumers, and others ought to recommit to forging a new framework for addressing ISP network management practices.
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