A coalition of consumer groups including Center for Media Justice, the Open Technology Institute, Free Press have sent a letter to the FCC urging the agency to crack down on "zero rating" -- or the practice of exempting some content from carrier usage caps. While T-Mobile's practice of exempting some video services from usage caps (aka "Binge On") is controversial, even more controversial has been Verizon and Comcast's decision to exempt their own content from usage caps.
So far, the FCC has only responded by insisting it's conducting an "information gathering exercise" via letters to most of the afore-mentioned companies. The FCC chose not to specifically ban zero rating, instead saying it would be addressed on a case-by-case basis. But so far the FCC has seen no "case" that it has been willing to act upon.
But the coalition of consumer groups say that regardless of the FCC's glacial response to the phenomenon, the practice of zero rating works to "distort competition, thwart innovation, threaten free speech, and restrict consumer choice—all harms the rules were meant to prevent.”
The argument is that if you're giving your own (or a partner's) content preferential treatment, you're by nature putting somebody at a disadvantage. This creates a scenario whereby smaller independents, startups, educational outfits and others find their traffic won't be getting the same attention.
"These plans distort user choice by pushing people toward websites with deep pockets and away from smaller applications who can’t afford the toll," the groups write in their letter. "This includes startups, small players, and noncommercial providers. In this way, sponsored data plans create the same kinds of harms to innovation and free speech as online fast lanes."
India, Japan, The Netherlands, Chile and Slovenia all banned zero rating in their own net neutrality rules, fearing that simply opening the door to the practice would cause problems. Based on Comcast and Verizon's plans to give their own content a leg up in the market, those worries seem perfectly justified.
You can find the groups' full letter to the FCC
here.