The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
Architecture and Public Policy
CIS explores how changes in the architecture of computer networks affect the economic environment for innovation and competition on the Internet, and how the law should react to those changes. This work has lead us to analyze the issue of network neutrality, perhaps the Internet's most debated policy issue, which concerns Internet user's ability to access the content and software of their choice without interference from network providers.
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House and Senate Democrats introduced a bill last week that aims to bring back net neutrality. The rules were originally put in place by the Barack Obama administration in 2015 to prohibit internet providers from selectively favoring, blocking or slowing content on the internet.The Donald Trump administration rolled back those rules, arguing that the Federal Communications Commission didn’t have the power to enforce them.
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Europe cracks down on data cap exemptions in update to net neutrality rules
European telecom regulator BEREC has updated its net neutrality guidelines to include a strict ban on zero-rating practices that exempt specific apps or categories of apps from data caps imposed by Internet service providers. Read more about Europe cracks down on data cap exemptions in update to net neutrality rules
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Europe cracks down on data cap exemptions in update to net neutrality rules
"Despite intense lobbying from big carriers and giant platforms, BEREC voted to clearly ban zero-rating offers that benefit select apps or categories of apps by exempting them from people's monthly data caps," Stanford Law Professor Barbara van Schewick wrote. "The ban applies whether the app pays to be included or not, closing a loophole in the draft guidelines." Read more about Europe cracks down on data cap exemptions in update to net neutrality rules
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Big ISPs finally gave up on blocking California’s landmark network neutrality law
On Thursday, major internet service providers (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al.) dropped a lawsuit challenging a California law requiring broadband networks to treat traffic and content from all websites and services equally. The ISPs’ legal challenge had already lost three times in California Federal courts. Network neutrality proponents are calling the abandonment of the suit a huge win for digital rights and the open web. Read more about Big ISPs finally gave up on blocking California’s landmark network neutrality law