“The Women Who Won Net Neutrality,” a recent Slate article, recognizes the work of leading women in technology sectors, academia, public interest, and government agencies who worked tirelessly to preserve the free and open Internet. At the top of this list is Stanford’s Professor Barbara van Schewick. Professor van Schewick’s work is cited as having “a bigger impact than entire institutions.”
As the article points out, Professor van Schewick wrote the book on net neutrality.Internet Architecture and Innovation analyzes the architecture of the Internet, how it fosters innovation, and what that suggests for the future. Professor van Schewick shows that the original architecture of the Internet, designed with the intent of allowing sharing between systems, fostered innovation in applications. The pressure to innovate benefited both the development of the Internet and its users. She then argues that structural changes are occurring that are modifying the underlying architecture of the Internet; and stresses that these changes may threaten to remove the innovative nature of the Internet by reducing the amount and quality of application innovation.
Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally to preserve open access to content on the Web. It's a principle that has faced many threats over the years. In 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) attempted to combat these threats with a set of Open Internet rules (classified as an information service under Title I of the Communications Act). But in 2014, after a legal challenge from Verizon, those rules were overturned. The FCC then drafted a new set of rules, this time they were grounded in Title II authority, which classifies the Internet as a public utility. During the comment period, the FCC's server crashed as millions of people weighed in with their support of preserving an open Internet.
On February 26, 2015, the FCC adopted the Open Internet rules; and they went into effect on June 12th.
Throughout all the legal challenges, agency hearings, lobbying, and public comment periods, Professor Barbara van Schewick has been tireless in her efforts to preserve net neutrality because she believes, “it is possible to protect users and innovators while giving network providers the tools they need to manage their networks and allowing the network to evolve.”
Read the full post at Technology Academics Policy.
- Date Published:10/08/2015
- Original Publication:Technology Academics Policy