Sascha D. Meinrath and Victor W. Pickard have just published a great paper on the importance of network neutrality in the International Journal of Communications Law and Policy. Here is the abstract:
The meteoric rise of network neutrality’s prominence as a crucial Internet policy debate has led to current events far outpacing theoretical and historical analyses. This paper addresses this lag in scholarship by contextualizing recent events in relation to historical telecommunications antecedents. In doing so, we critically evaluate the current network neutrality debate and offer a set of technical and policy guidelines for a new, more broadly defined network neutrality. Specifically, we submit that beyond redefining network neutrality, we must connect issues usually dealt with separately—issues that are actually a subset of one overarching concern: Internet freedom. We conclude with an exploration of the social and political impacts of this broader conception of network neutrality and suggest that this “new network neutrality” provides a proactive foundation for supporting the goal of creating a more open and participatory Internet.
You can download the full paper here and contact co-author Sascha Meinrath at sascha@saschameinrath.com or +1(202)986-2700 x226.
