A group of companies including Reddit, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Etsy, Vimeo and others have sent a letter to the FCC (pdf) urging the agency to conduct a formal, transparent inquiry into broadband usage caps and "zero rating" of certain content. When the FCC passed net neutrality rules last year it failed to specifically address usage caps or zero rating, saying it would use the "general conduct" portion of the rules to address anti-competitive harm on a "case by case basis."
But a growing number of companies have been using usage caps anti-competitively as the FCC appears stuck in neutral.
Both Verizon and Comcast now exempt their own streaming services from usage caps, in the hopes of giving themselves an unfair advantage in the market. AT&T has started only selling unlimited fixed and wireless plans if users subscribe to DirecTV. And while consumers generally like T-Mobile's "Binge On" program because it exempts the biggest video services, critics still say it violates neutrality because it fails to whitelist all the smaller companies, startups, or non-profits competing with said services.
So far, the most we've seen from the FCC is some closed door meetings and a few letters the FCC calls an informal "information exercise." The list of companies told the FCC in their letter they'd like it if the FCC got the ball rolling with a more transparent, official inquiry into usage caps and zero rating.
"Giving ISPs the power to favor some sites or services over others would let ISPs pick winners and losers online—precisely what the Open Internet rules exist to prevent," the companies wrote.
"Given how many stakeholders participated in the process to make these rules, including nearly 4 million members of the public, it would be unacceptable not to seek and incorporate broad input and expertise at this critical stage," they added.
A growing list of countries have recognized the slippery slope of zero rating and banned the practice entirely, including The Netherlands, Norway, Chile, Japan, and India. The FCC 's
banning of caps for seven years as a Charter condition indicates the agency recognizes the anti-competitive potential of usage caps, though the FCC may be waiting until the broadband industry's lawsuit against the rules is settled before taking more substantive action -- if it acts at all.