New York: Saira runs her online business of traditional Muslim clothing, custom jewelry and bangles from Brooklyn, New York. Her main customers are American-Muslim women. It's easy for them to visit Saira's online store and get the traditional Pakistani clothing, bangles, henna (a flowering plant used to dye skin, hair, fingernails etc in Pakistan) which is usually not easily available in the United States.
Same is the case with Muhammad Naeem who runs an online music store. He sells Pakistani, Indian DVDs and CDs online. His customers from all over the United States and even overseas, order DVDs and CDs of their choice by visiting his website.
"Now I depend more on my online business and the credit goes to the Internet," says Naeem who owns a video store in Brooklyn, New York.
Like other communities, many individuals, small business owners, students, community newspapers, and organizations of the Pakistani-American community depend more and more on the Internet.
"But it may not be wrong if I say that 99.99% of our people, including myself, have no idea about net neutrality," said Naeem.
When asked how many ordinary people know about net neutrality, Professor Richard R. John at Columbia Journalism School says "not too many."
Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle proposed for user access to networks found on the Internet that advocates that no restrictions be placed by Internet service providers (ISPs) and governments on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, and the modes of communication. In essence, it argues that no one piece of information should be prioritized over another.
For example, if we compare Saira's clothing web site's with eBay – an online auction and shopping website – or Naeem's online video store with Blockbuster – an U.S.-based chain of videos rental stores – ISPs should not prioritize which website should download and open faster or determine the content on any site.
A controversy sparked when Comcast Corp., an ISP, was accused of breaching net neutrality. In one case, Comcast blocked some forms of file-sharing traffic. When Internet users using Comcast cable modems for Internet access attempted to download, using file-sharing program BitTorrent, a copy of the King James Bible, which is not protected by copyright, they found that the transfer was blocked.
Comcast Corporation (commonly referred to as Comcast) is the largest cable operator and the largest home Internet service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
The issue was taken into the court and in April 2010, a federal appeals court told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it had no power to regulate the Internet.
FCC is an independent U.S. government agency that deals with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.
Now broadband companies effectively have no regulations that constrain them, as the FCC has left itself with no statutory means to control what telecoms do with their Internet networks.
"Now, for instance, an ISP like Cable Vision in New York can come up with its own audio chat service and block all other audio or video chat services like MSN messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Skype or Google Talk," said Scott Holladay, an economy fellow at Policy Integrity, a non-partisan advocacy organization.
"Oh my God, if it would happen then it means that my Quran Institute would loose all of its students (customers) to whom we teach Quran (the religious text of Islam) online through Skype," said Khurram who runs an online teaching academy.
Asked what kind of role immigrant communities could play to make sure the existence of Net Neutrality, Mr. Holladay said, "People could visit the FCC's website and post their comments; they should contact and write to their elected officials and tell them what Net Neutrality means to them."
There is a way to regulate the ISPs by FCC reclassifying the broadband as a telecommunications service – in legal terms, moving broadband from Title I to Title II of the Telecommunications Act.
Broadband is considered to be an "information service" now but if FCC puts it under its Title II rule, it will become a "Communication Service" and then FCC can have an authority to regulate the ISPs.
Whether to put ISPs under Title II or not, this decision needs to be taken by the FCC. Reclassification might make it easier for the FCC to create net-neutrality rules.
Since April 2010, the FCC had not put this issue on its monthly meeting's agenda; however, the FCC now is set to vote on rules to protect network neutrality at its December 21, 2010.
Topics selected for FCC open meeting agendas are posted on the Commission's website approximately three weeks prior to the Commission's next monthly meeting.
Six public interest groups – Public Knowledge; Benton Foundation; Center for Media Justice; Consumers Union; Media Access Project; and New America Foundation – have said that the FCC "should move swiftly ahead" and complete the proceedings based on the information in the public record, rather than waiting for a consensus to emerge.
Replying a question from Sada-e-Pakistan at an event a Colombia University, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps said: "Absolutely I am in favor of net neutrality. I think an open Internet is essential."
When asked whether the issue would be decided at the FCC's December's meeting, he said, "Well, something would likely be decided, we just have to see what the dynamics are and what quality of discussion we are going to have. I certainly hope that, at the end of the day, we would have real network neutrality. This is a golden opportunity and we should never miss it."
"At this point, the FCC chairman and the commission are trying to decide what to do," said Art Brodsky, the communications director of Public Knowledge.
"We are in favor of net neutrality because we want to help people have access to the Internet. Others favor the telephone and cable companies," he added.
According to Yochai Benkler, Professor for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, "Maybe a couple of million people are really engaged and reading news about net neutrality, but if it does not exist then it's impact would absolutely be on everybody."
He added, "There needs to be a compelling story that could let people know what net neutrality means to them. The question is can any Internet provider decide that if they like one source of information they could transfer it faster, and if they do not like another source they could slow it down. That's the core question."
Professor Benkler further said, "The idea behind open Internet is to simply require them, by law, that when somebody carries Internet traffic they have to treat all packets alike. If tomorrow Skype wants to invent a new Voiceover IP application then they don't get slowed down by an incumbent that has a competing voice service; that's the critical point; that's what people need to understand."
In New York most of the people are using Cablevision, Time Warner, Verizon and others as their ISPs and these companies are, so far, neutral on Internet, but it does not mean that the FCC has the authority to control them. So it could happen even in New York that these ISPs start dealing their subscribers differently.
"That's why something needs to be done at the FCC's level," said Brodsky and added, "We think reclassifying broadband service is pro-consumer and pro-competition."
Naeem, Saira and other members of Pakistani-American community were shocked when learned that Internet freedom, equal opportunities and access could be taken away. "It's like a doomsday scenario," said Naeem and added, "Everybody should make his community aware about this possibility."
The Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives in January are virtually unanimously opposed to Net Neutrality rules.
But Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) representing 11th congressional district – which includes a large Pakistani American community – "is a supporter of Net Neutrality," said her spokesperson Judith Kargbo, and added, "We are looking for the interest of the people living in her 11th district."
Public interest groups are cautiously hopeful that FCC Chairman XXX Genachowski will act before the new Congress is seated, at which time the environment for the FCC and net neutrality advocates will become much more difficult.
"We expect Chairman Genachowski to complete the job he started on net neutrality by the end of this year," said Timothy Karr, campaign director at Free Press, a D.C. interest group that advocates for net neutrality. "Given the spirit of openness with which he began his tenure, we remain hopeful that Chairman Genachowski will put the public demand for an open Internet before the narrow interests of Comcast and AT&T," Karr said.
"The Pakistani-American community should either join 'Latinos for Internet Freedom' or form our own coalition for open internet," said Imran Igra who is happy with his online DVD business but worried about the possibility of a controlled Internet.
"The open Internet provided me an opportunity for a joint venture with someone from U.K.," said Imran and added, "Preserving the open Internet is essential to our economic success too."
The Institute for Policy Integrity, a non-partisan advocacy organization, in its report 'The Value of Open' said that losing net neutrality could endanger the economic benefits that now flow to Internet users and advises federal policymakers to proceed with proposed rules that would maintain net neutrality as the law of the land.
"Loosing net neutrality, for me, it's like a doomsday scenario, Said Imran.
