Internet Service Provider Crackdown Necessary, Pleads New York Senator

The Senate minority leader expressed profound concern over the issues plaguing the Internet industry in remarks made Sunday. Of particular interest, Schumer made it clear that, while Internet service providers (ISPs) report high speeds, the reality is far different. Though noting that 99 percent of New Yorkers have access to high-speed internet, nearly 4 million do not have access to a rate of 25 Mbps. The senator’s main concern, according to the comments, is the loss in productivity with slower rates. Because ISPs can self-test, there’s little or no follow through for affected users.

“While we live in an era of faster and faster, the reality of internet speed across New York is that it may move more like molasses than lightning. If you spend four hours a day using the internet with 5% of that time lost to a sluggish connection.”

Calling on the FCC

Senator Schumer has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to crack down on these deceptive ISP practices. He hopes that third-party testing will force companies to provide exactly what customers are paying for. Nevertheless, the issue does raise more profound questions regarding the nature of product distribution and trust. The FCC’s ability to test and enforce speed regulations is only reliable insofar as it is able to remain wholly unbiased. Moving the responsibility to another institution may only shift these targets slightly.

Decentralized Internet or Bust

Others, however, suggest that such a shift would be meaningless. Instead, they are calling for a move toward decentralized internet services. In fact, according to Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, the FCC is aware of the issue but has done nothing.

“The cable and phone companies have routinely deceived the public when it comes to the broadband speeds they promise and what they deliver. Unfortunately, the FCC has been complicit in this deception for many years.”

In a peer-to-peer (P2P) internet environment, providers would only offer services based on connectivity between distributed nodes. Such a system, utilizing blockchain technology, would provide increased security, as well as far cheaper access. There’s a trade-off in that the distributed providers could charge whatever they liked for access. However, because the system would remove the current near-monopoly that most consumers face, the pricing would drop dramatically. Do you think blockchain technology for a decentralized internet is the solution for Chuck Schumer’s woes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!