ISPs, Be Careful What You Wish For

Broadband providers’ attempts to steer public policy often produce short-term wins before backfiring spectacularly.

If you’ve been watching the news lately, you might expect the champagne corks to be popping in cable and telco C-suites right about now.

Congress has passed, and President Trump has signed, a bill that wil allow big ISPs to sell their customers’ web browsing data without seeking those customers’ permission, in what’s being widely criticized as a blow to consumer privacy protections.

President Trump after a bill signing.

Save for lobbyists and executives of the companies that benefit from this legislation, and their allies in government, no voters on either side of the political spectrum supported empowering the most hated companies in the country to make a few extra bucks in exchange for their customers privacy.

But as it turns out,the very regulations that big broadband providers so vehemently oppose are often for their own good.

With the terrible reputations rightfully earned by the likes of Comcast, AT&T, Charter Communications, Verizon, and others, deregulating these firms gives them freedom to do more harm to their own images.

In the past, even policy and courtroom victories have gone on to create sizeable headaches and problems for the companies.

When a Win Backfires

This idea was best illustrated during the last net neutrality debate. Verizon sued and succeeded in getting a relatively weak set of net neutrality rules thrown out.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam

The FCC, Verizon argued, was applying common carrier rules meant for old telephone networks to broadband, which at the time was considered an information service rather than a Title II common carrier.

Verizon’s celebrations were short-lived. Less than a year later, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, himself a product of the revolving door between regulators and the very industry being regulated, would introduce a much tougher set of rules, the cornerstone of which was reclassifying broadband providers as common carriers under Title II of the Telecommunications Act.

This was regarded as a disaster by the broadband providers who could now be regulated much more aggressively. Thanks a lot, Verizon. By fighting the concept of any regulation at all, ISPs ended up with a far worse outcome.

Inviting Attention

American voters have a reputation for being uninformed and apathetic. Few industries have benefited more from that than cable and telco companies, who enjoy regional monopolies and little accountability to consumers.

But as difficult as it is to do, when an industry riles up the American public, look out!

Net neutrality is one issue that voters have proven they care about. When a proposal was circulated that would have allowed ISPs to create paid “fast lanes” on the internet, consumers reacted. And very negatively.

The backlash against the proposal was palpable. A record-breaking number, nearly 4 million comments, flooded the FCC. And almost all of them called for exactly what ISPs feared most: reclassification and strong net neutrality protections.

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler

The public pressure was so great, that FCC Chairman and former top cable lobbyist Tom Wheeler caved, giving consumers what they wanted in tougher net neutrality rules utilizing Title II, and becoming public enemy #1 of the industry he used to represent.

The public is now keenly aware of the internet privacy protections they’ve lost with the passage of this recent bill, while the news media continues to fan those flames and hype the story. We may not even have to wait until the next election for public backlash to grow loud enough to demand and get action, be it from congress, the FCC, or the White House.

Driven to the Shadows

Even in the absence of government solutions, consumers tend to take actions of their own.

Responses to the new lack of internet privacy are already being discussed online. Articles and posts are popping up recommending VPNs, while others are even proposing tools that flood their browsing histories with junk to fool or reduce the value of ISP snooping.

In other words, many of the same tactics used to hide unsavory or criminal activity are suddenly becoming commonplace. Average consumers who otherwise wouldn’t have any reason for such measures, now fearing for their own privacy embrace them.

This mainstream move to the shadows is bad news for the media industry as a whole. Consumers, feeling screwed once again, and with all the tools now more readily at their disposal, will be more likely than ever to pirate content, skirt restrictions, and otherwise thumb their nose at big media every chance they get.

Enjoy It While It Lasts

In the short term, big cable and telco companies may enjoy the more favorable regulatory environment, but that pendulum will swing back. As consumer outrage grows, the pressures mount on politicians and regulators to reign them in.

The more ISPs take advantage, the faster that will happen.