[GA] Open Internet Order [Complete]

[Sil Dorsett]

Category: Social Justice
Strength: Mild
Proposed by: The Free and Sovereign State of Thailand
Onsite Topic

The General Assembly,

Recognizing the essential role of the Internet in areas such as economic, social, and political activity;

Concerned that Internet Service Providers hold all the tools necessary to deceive subscribers and block or otherwise degrade content;

HEREBY:

1. Defines the following:
(a) "Internet Service Provider" as an entity that directly controls and operates facilities that are used to provide Internet access.
(b) "Reasonable Network Management" allows Internet Service Providers to temporarily throttle access to the network on legal grounds such as avoiding network congestion or contractual obligations.
(c) "Lawful" allowed by international law and/or national law (If international law and national law conflict, international law takes precedence over national law).
(d) "Internet" refers to the collection of technical protocols that allows different devices on different platforms to communicate with each other.
(e) "Subscriber" refers to a person who pays to receive and/or access a service.

2. Prohibits Internet Service Providers from:
(a) Arbitrarily blocking access to lawful content and/or access to the network; subject to reasonable network management.
(b) Arbitrarily throttling access to lawful content and/or access to the network; subject to reasonable network management.

3. Requires Internet Service Providers to disclose to new and existing subscribers:
(a) Any and all pricing information related to the service plan.
(b) Any and all caps related to the service plan as well as the consequences of exceeding such cap.

4. Permits Internet Service Providers to employ reasonable network management controls.

5. Establishes the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

6. Empowers the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to issue fines, enforce provision(s) of this resolution and conduct investigations against Internet Service Providers. The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority may also issue declaratory rulings, at its discretion.

Voting Instructions:

• Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
• Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
• Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
• Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.

Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!

 

[Sil Dorsett]

As co-authored by Sil Dorsett, ABC, and Caligula...

The resolution aims to implement its form of "net neutrality" by prohibiting the blocking or throttling of legal content and making sure an Internet Service Provider can't favor certain content and companies over others. It establishes a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority to ensure consumers are receiving guaranteed services with regards to pricing, download and upload speeds, and data transfer limits. The resolution aims to protect consumers from unfair businesses practices and protects the right of smaller business to be competitive in the online market.

However, the concept of "reasonable network management" could defeat the entire purpose of the resolution, as it still permits the throttling of content if an ISP decides a service is consuming too much bandwidth. Services throttled by this arbitrary determination would suffer competitive disadvantages.

The Ministry of WA Affairs asks voters to take these points into consideration when casting their vote.

 

[abc]

I vote: FOR.

The internet was meant to be free and open and it should remain as such.

~ ABC

 

[Teesea]

For

 

[Duke Valdr]

For

 

[Zyvetskistaahn]

Abstain

 

[Siwale]

For

 

[Imperium Anglorum]

Empowers the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to issue fines, enforce provision(s) of this resolution and conduct investigations against Internet Service Providers. The Telecommunication Regulatory Authority may also issue declaratory rulings, at its discretion.

This authority is granted the ability to issue fines against anyone who provides Internet access, including national governments. It is granted the ability to do so without any limits and with far-reaching discretion.

 

[Caligula]

There are a number of issues with this resolution.

Most importantly, it won't achieve its aim because it only prohibits "arbitrary" actions. An ISP blocking access could say that their action wasn't arbitrary at all but part of a plan to increase profit, further censorship or promote some other nefarious scheme and this resolution wouldn't be able to touch it.

The definitions are all over the place. Because this laptop is "a facility used to provide internet access" and because I "directly control and operate it" I am apparently an ISP. The internet is not "the collection of technical protocols that allows different devices on different platforms to communicate with each other" since this would include sending a text from an Android to an iPhone, using a local network (or even a printer) and many other spurious examples. And why does this resolution bring into being a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority when it only deals with the internet and not telecommunications as a whole - unless perhaps this excessively loose definition of the internet is intentional rather than a case of poor wording?

The idea that pricing information and limitations on usage should be made available to subscribers is admirable, but it should be subsumed into the more general point that services of all kinds should be delivered under an enforceable contract. That should be a basic feature of a nation's legal system and doesn't need to be imposed in one isolated area by a WA agency.

I vote against.

 

[Darcania]

I vote: FOR.

The internet was meant to be free and open and it should remain as such.

~ ABC

Yes, it should... but in a manner that isn't so awfully defined, worded, thought out...

Against.

 

[Secretary to The Committee]

For.

This is an excellent bill. Ofc not the best wording, but this is the WA, so for that it is very accommodating.

 

[Sil Dorsett]

Voting on this resolution has ended.

Thanks to those nations who cast their votes. Your participation is a great help to the region.

This topic has been locked and sent to the Archives for safekeeping. If you would like this topic to be re-opened for further discussion, please contact the WA Delegate, a Global Moderator, or an Administrator for assistance. Thank you.