Colorado businesses, experts weigh impact of neutrality vote

Following the Federal Communications Commission’s approval Thursday to repeal the open-internet rules known as net neutrality, the future of the internet is very certain for some, but not for others.

Opponents to the rule change are already threatening to sue to bring back the rules the agency adopted two years ago. But those in favor, including FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who made the proposal last month, don’t expect a big change in how businesses or consumers stream movies, shop online or use the internet.

For those outside of the commission, the reality of what this could mean for business was sinking in.

“We are a small ecommerce company that competes, and in some cases, sells goods similar to far larger players,” said Lee Meyer, CEO of interior design site Havenly.com, which is based in Denver. “The risk, economically, to us, is that ISPs begin to charge high fees for the fastest connections to consumers — fees that a company of our size can’t reasonably bear. In the consumer world, speed has a direct impact on conversion. This decision could potentially have serious impacts on what made small internet based business possible in the first place — a free and fair internet.”

Nothing will change immediately. The Office of Management and Budget must first approve the rule, which “can take several said FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield. “The current rules remain in effect until then.”

The case will probably end up court, said Blake E. Reid, a University of Colorado Boulder law professor who specializes in technology policy and telecom law. While there is a movement by some Democrats to reverse the order, it would need bipartisan support, a veto-proof majority and a presidential signature.

“Several public interest groups have announced plans to sue the FCC over the order. That challenge will be reviewed by a 3judge panel at the DC Circuit and may ultimately be reviewed by the full court. It could also go up to the Supreme Court. The courts will consider whether the FCC’s reasoning in repealing the rules was arbitrary and capricious,” he said.

Simultaneously, a separate proposal to create a new net neutrality law could happen. That, he said, “would likely require amending the Communications Act. How that might unfold is a lot harder to predict.”

Cameron Williams, founder and Chief Technology Officer of Denver security company OverwatchID, had hoped the vote would go the other way.

As the owner of a small business that uses the internet to distribute its ID security software, Williams fears his much larger competition, or competitors that get snapped up by an AT&T or another large ISP that could favor its own services over Overwatch’s.

“It’s very disconcerting for sure,” Williams said. “If our competition can afford to pay a premium (to speed up internet service) that we don’t have the budget to pay for, that puts us at a significant disadvantage.”

With a staff of 30 employees, Overwatch would probably have to hire somemonths,” one to monitor whether company data is getting to clients as consistently fast as his competition.

“I hope this goes to the Supreme Court and gets overturned,” Williams said.

Ting Internet, which is working with the city of Centennial to offer gigabit internet to residents, has long voiced its support for net neutrality. After the vote, Ting officials said they don’t plan to change their business. Officials with NextLight, a community-owned internet utility service in Longmont, also said there will be no changes.

But the state’s leading internet providers have opposed net neutrality from the start. Comcast created an uproar this year when it removed some wording online that detailed its net neutrality protections — including deleting that it won’t “create paid fast lanes.” The company responded saying it has no plans to block or throttle data, or discriminate against lawful content.

CenturyLink has said it was pleased that the FCC moved forward on the issue, but on Thursday, the company said it wasn’t ready to comment.

“We look forward to working with the FCC to ensure that the internet experience for consumers and businesses, as well as the exchange of internet traffic between providers, remains positive and beneficial to all,” the company said.