Photo by Joe Raedle/Staff

Net neutrality is on the chopping block, and one drum that FCC chairman Ajit Pai keeps beating is the idea that without government intervention, broadband companies like your internet service provider and wireless carrier will regulate themselves. Let’s see what history has to say about that.




Broadband companies are already some of the most hated companies in America, but if history is any indication, it’s possible to hate them more.

There is a lot of hyperbole and partisan nonsense on both sides of the net neutrality debate right now, but instead of poking our heads into the future, let’s peek into the past. The core crux of the FCC’s claim against the necessity of net neutrality comes from the idea that the broadband companies will regulate themselves due to competition and there does not need to be any rules about it. So, have they? Of course not.


Here is just a small, non-exhaustive list of the tricks broadband companies have pulled over the years, through both the net neutrality years and before:

Of course, it’s impossible to predict the future or to say what broadband companies will do without net neutrality moving forward. They certainly don’t have the best track record though. While the last version of net neutrality wasn’t perfect, at least there was some groundwork to build on. No content could be blocked, companies had to be transparent about their data transfer policies, and they couldn’t give preferential treatment to themselves. These are all good things and there is still plenty of room for competition. Assuming you don’t live in rural America anyway, where Backchannel points out there is still few, if any, choice for broadband providers, and where they do exist, they’re neglecting the maintenance in poorer communities.

Theoretically consumers could make broadband companies “pay for it” if they’re caught doing something shady, but that’s assuming there’s more than a one or two different options for broadband providers in your area to begin with. That’s also assuming anyone has the willpower to actually keep an eye on the annoying things these companies do.