Happy Net Neutrality New Year!

While you were recovering, the FCC signed off a merger deal between AT&T and Bell South. AT&T had been fighting to exempt itself from "net neutrality" rules that require it to treat all signals equally and not charge companies and consumers for access to a tiered system. Net neutrality prevents large companies from defining internet traffic to suit their own interests. In the face of monopolistic power in some sector (telecom, in this case) net neutrality preserves a level playing field in both political and capitalistic senses.

Second only to the issue of media consolidation, net neutrality has become a popular cause with small organizations like Save the Internet leading the fight. (Larger Internet companies, like Amazon and Yahoo, also had a stake in net neutrality.)

On December 29, the FCC ruled that if AT&T is to merge with Bell South, it would have to abide by a net neutrality principle that lasts for 2 years. Astonishingly, this provision is strong enough to please even the most ardent net neutrality activist. The surprise success on this issue is a probable result of three factors: 1) the Democratic takeover of congress; 2) consumer activism; 3) corporate lobbying from the likes of large internet holdings like Google and Amazon. In any case, a wonderful way to kick off the New Year.