Despite the FCC’s public promise of an open Internet, the FCC has, and continues to hold secret meetings with corporations to discuss the two main net neutrality proceedings: broadband reclassification and open Internet proposals. The FCC has allegedly summoned lobbyists from corporations such as AT&T, T Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Google, Skype, and the Motion Picture Association of America, to give their two cents in hopes that a compromise could be reached.

In the United States, Comcast is the leading ISP in fastest broadband speed, at an average speed of 16.23Mbps, followed by Charter and Cablevision.

As an entire country, the U.S. has an average download speed of 9.87Mbps, placing the U.S. at 27th place internationally. South Korea has the fastest average speed of 31.39, followed by Latvia and Netherlands. Canada is 32nd with a speed of 8.33Mbps.

Two members of the Sweden’s Pirate Party, or Piratpartiet, have big plans to launch its own ISP named Pirate ISP to cultivate efficient content sharing. Pirate ISP will work with ViaEuropa to ensure subscribers are kept anonymous and will not keep logs to prevent government from monitoring the users.

In order to use the service, Pirate ISP subscribers need to be technologically adept as users are responsible for fixing and maintaining their service.

Two major reports recently released provide evidence that the protection of net neutrality is critical.

The Connectivity Scorecard is an annual industry-funded study that grades each country based on their online infrastructure. It measures the raw broadband infrastructure itself, as well as the policies and its behavioral consumer use. The U.S., who was in the top spot when the report was first released in 2008, scored a 7.77 out of 10 while Sweden scored a 7.95, indicating the lack of technological development in the U.S. while other countries have improved.

The Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act was introduced today by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.). The Bill aims to drive the implementation of Federal Communications Commission's recommendations in the National Broadband Plan surrounding spectrum policy.

The Bill will give authority to the FCC to monitor the private and public sector spectrum by conducting spectrum incentive auctions.

Last year, Time Warner Cable set up trials to cap users on their bandwidth usage in order to charge customers based on how much they download. Time Warner CEO, Glenn Britt claimed that the new pricing model is necessary to support the broadband business and that it was their ‘mistake’ for not having done so from the beginning.

Chile recently approved of a law that guarantees net neutrality for consumers and Internet users.
Translated to English from the original Chilean website, the Bill prohibits “ISPs (those that provide Internet access) from interfering with, discriminating or slowing down in any way, the content, application, or services, except actions destined to guarantee user privacy, virus protection and internet security.”

This is truly a victorious moment in the battle for net neutrality protection.

The CRTC recently ruled that the Internet Traffic Management Practices (ITMP) policy framework set out in Telecom Regulatory Policy will apply to the use of mobile wireless data services.

The framework would be consistent with the forbearance regimes that already apply to mobile voice services and to retail Internet services. The amendments also address net neutrality concerns regarding mobile wireless data services.

MIT researchers have recently created a technology that will make the Internet 100 times or even 1000 times faster by replacing the electrical signals inside Internet routers with more efficient optical fibre signals.

Following the footsteps of countries such as Canada, the United States and the UK, the European Union has released a net neutrality inquiry, inviting users to join the debate on the open internet in Europe.

British internet watchdogs, Ofcom, recently published a discussion paper on the current state of net neutrality in the UK and the possibility of taking steps to regulate its Internet service providers.

Their views are still in the preliminary stages as “there is currently insufficient evidence to justify regulation to prohibit certain forms of traffic management”.

On June 17, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission will hold their open meeting to discuss the reclassification of set rules for broadband Internet services.

The latest FCC announcement suggests that consumer protection in wireless networks will be treated separately from wired networks. Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner urges for the FCC to include wireless networks in their plan for reclassification. Turner argues that the reasons for consumer protection in the wired broadband market apply equally to wireless.

Recently, 74 House Democrats and 37 Senate Republicans signed an industry-written letter addressed to the Federal Communications Commission to stop the protection of net neutrality, despite President Barack Obama’s constant support for an open internet.

Last summer, President Obama appointed Julius Genachowski to lead the FCC to protect Internet users and prevent telecommunication companies from throttling Internet traffic.

After several years of lawsuits and four million dollars spent, the city of Lafayette in Louisiana has successfully provided broadband connectivity for its residential citizens through a public fibre network.

Currently, Lafayette boasts one of the largest and most successful fibre deployments in the U.S with its residents picking up a 50Mbps symmetrical connection for only $57.95 a month. The city’s prices are lower than prices from telecommunication companies by a 20 percent difference.

In the midst of telecommunication conglomerates’ web wars and mergers, PBS’ Bill Moyers recently sat down with FCC commissioner Michael Copps to discuss the future of net neutrality and the outlook of journalism in the digital age.