美國網際網路新規確認網路中立原則

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, a milestone in regulating high-speed Internet service into American homes.

華盛頓——聯邦通訊委員會(Federal Communications Commission, FCC)週四投票決定，把寬頻網際網路作為一種公共事業來管理。這個決定是高速網際網路服務進入美國家庭的管理上的一個里程碑。

Tom Wheeler, the commission chairman, said the F.C.C. was using “all the tools in our toolbox to protect innovators and consumers” and preserve the Internet’s role as a “core of free expression and democratic principles.”

FCC主席湯姆·惠勒(Tom Wheeler)說，委員會在使用“工具箱中的所有工具來保護創新者和消費者”，同時也要確保網際網路作為“言論自由和民主原則基石”的作用。

The new rules, approved 3 to 2 along party lines, are intended to ensure that no content is blocked and that the Internet is not divided into pay-to-play fast lanes for Internet and media companies that can afford it and slow lanes for everyone else. Those prohibitions are hallmarks of the net neutrality concept.

新規則是以3票對2票通過的。投支援票者與投反對票者分別來自兩個不同的黨派。新規旨在確保任何內容都不被遮蔽，同時，網際網路也不會被分割出網路及媒體公司可以付費使用的快速路，把慢速路留給其他人。這是網路中立概念的核心原則。

Explaining the reason for the regulation, Mr. Wheeler, a Democrat, said that Internet access was “too important to let broadband providers be the ones making the rules.”

解釋新規則時，民主黨人惠勒說，能夠接觸和使用網際網路“至關重要，因此不能由寬頻提供商制定規則”。

Mobile data service for smartphones and tablets, in addition to wired lines, is being placed under the new rules. The order also includes provisions to protect consumer privacy and to ensure that Internet service is available to people with disabilities and in remote areas.

除了有線網路，針對智慧手機和平板電腦的移動資料服務也將受新規監管。週四的決議還包括保護消費者隱私的條款，和確保殘障者及偏遠地區都能使用網際網路的內容。

Before the vote, each of the five commissioners spoke and the Republicans delivered a scathing critique of the order as overly broad, vague and unnecessary. Ajit Pai, a Republican commissioner, said the rules were government meddling in a vibrant, competitive market and were likely to deter investment, undermine innovation and ultimately harm consumers.

投票前，委員會的五名成員都發了言。共和黨人對規則提出了尖銳批評，指責它太寬泛、含糊、沒有必要。共和黨委員阿吉特·佩(Ajit Pai)說，新規意味著政府幹預一個活躍、充滿競爭的市場，可能會打擊投資，削弱創新，最終傷害消費者。

“The Internet is not broken,” Mr. Pai said. “There is no problem to solve.”

“網際網路沒有出問題，”佩說，“沒有什麼問題需要解決。”

The impact of the new rules will hinge partly on details that are not yet known. The rules will not be published for at least a couple of days, and will not take effect for probably at least a couple of months. Lawsuits to challenge the commission’s order are widely expected.

新規的影響主要取決於細節內容；目前尚不得而知。這些規則至少要兩天後才會公佈，至少兩個月後才會生效。很可能還會發生訴訟，對新規發起挑戰。

The F.C.C. is taking this big regulatory step by reclassifying high-speed Internet service as a telecommunications service, instead of an information service, under Title II of the Telecommunications Act. The Title II classification comes from the phone company era, treating service as a public utility.

FCC此次在監管上邁出了一大步，根據《電信法》第二章，把高速網際網路服務定義為一種通訊服務，而非資訊服務。這條法律中的分類起源於電話公司時代，將電話服務歸類為公共服務。

But the new rules are an à la carte version of Title II, adopting some provisions and shunning others. The F.C.C. will not get involved in pricing decisions or the engineering decisions companies make in managing their networks. Mr. Wheeler, who gave a forceful defense of the rules just ahead of the vote, said the tailored approach was anything but old-style utility regulation. “These are a 21st-century set of rules for a 21st-century industry,” he said.

但新規是對第二章的選擇性使用，一些條款被採納，一些則被規避。FCC不介入公司的定價決定和工程設計決定。惠勒在表決前極力為新規辯護，說這種定製式的監管方式絕不是老式的公共設施法規。“這是21世紀的法規，適用於21世紀的行業，”他說。

Opponents of the new rules, led by cable television and telecommunications companies, say adopting the Title II approach opens the door to bureaucratic interference with business decisions that, if let stand, would reduce incentives to invest and thus raise prices and hurt consumers.

新規的反對者包括有線電視網和通訊公司。他們說，對第二章的採用開啟了政府幹預商業決策的大門，如果被執行，會降低投資積極性，導致價格提高，傷害消費者。

“Today, the F.C.C. took one of the most regulatory steps in its history,” Michael Powell, president of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and a chairman of the F.C.C. in the Bush administration, said in a statement. “The commission has breathed new life into the decayed telephone regulatory model and applied it to the most dynamic, freewheeling and innovative platform in history.”

“今天，FCC邁出了有史以來最大的監管步伐，”國家有線電視和電信協會主席、布什總統時代的FCC主席邁克爾·鮑威爾(Michael Powell)在一則宣告中說。“委員會為陳舊的電話監管模式注入了新生命，把它應用於歷史上最有活力，最自由，也最具創新的一個平臺上。”

Supporters of the Title II model include many major Internet companies, start-ups and public interest groups. In a statement, Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Association, which includes Google, Facebook and smaller online companies, called the F.C.C. vote “a welcome step in our effort to create strong, enforceable net neutrality rules.”

第二章模式的支持者包括許多大型網際網路公司、初創企業，以及公共利益團體。網際網路協會會長邁克爾·貝克曼(Michael Beckerman)在一份宣告中稱，FCC的表決為“我們努力創造強有力的、可執行的網路中立性規則邁出了可喜的一步”，網際網路協會包括谷歌、Facebook，以及較小的網路公司。

The F.C.C.’s yearlong path to issuing rules to ensure an open Internet precipitated an extraordinary level of political involvement, from grass-roots populism to the White House, for a regulatory ruling. The F.C.C. received four million comments, about a quarter of them generated through a campaign organized by groups including Fight for the Future, an advocacy nonprofit.

為了確保一個開放的網際網路，FCC用了一年的時間來制定規則，引來從基層民粹主義者到白宮的政治參與，這對制定管理法規來說異乎尋常。FCC收到了400萬份意見，大約有四分之一來自一個運動，運動是由“爭取未來”(Fight for the Future)等倡導性非盈利團體組織的。

Evan Greer, campaign director for Fight for the Future, said, “This shows that the Internet has changed the rules of what can be accomplished in Washington.”

“爭取未來”的該活動負責人埃文·格里爾(Evan Greer)說，“這表明，網際網路已經改變了華盛頓能夠做什麼事情的規則。”

An overwhelming majority of the comments supported common-carrier style rules, like those in the order the commission approved on Thursday.

絕大多數的意見支援公共通訊企業型別的規則，正如委員會週四批准的那種。

In the public meeting, Mr. Wheeler began his remarks by noting the flood of public comments. “We listened and we learned,” he said.

在這個公開會議上，惠勒在講話中首先提到了大量的公眾意見。他說，“我們聽取了意見，我們從中學到了東西。”

In November, President Obama took the unusual step of urging the F.C.C., an independent agency, to adopt the “strongest possible rules” on net neutrality.

去年11月，奧巴馬總統不同尋常地向FCC發出呼籲，敦促這個獨立的機構在網路中立性上採取“儘可能最強有力的規則”。

Mr. Obama specifically called on the commission to classify high-speed broadband service as a utility under Title II. His rationale: “For most Americans, the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life.”

奧巴馬特別呼籲委員會把高速寬頻服務歸類為第二章的公用事業。他的理由是：“對於大多數美國人來說，網際網路已經成為日常交流和日常生活中必不可少的一部分。”

Republicans in Congress were slow to react, and initially misread the public mood. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas portrayed the F.C.C. rule-making process as a heavy-handed liberal initiative, “Obamacare for the Internet.”

國會中的共和黨人反應遲緩，最初還誤讀了公眾的情緒。德克薩斯州參議員特德·克魯茲(Ted Cruz)曾把FCC的規則制定過程描述為自由主義者笨手笨腳的動作，是“網際網路的奧巴馬醫改”。

In January, Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican, began circulating legislation that embraced the principles of net neutrality, banning both paid-for priority lanes and the blocking or throttling of any web content. But it would also prohibit the F.C.C. from issuing regulations to achieve those goals. This week, the Republicans pulled back, with too little support to move quickly.

今年1月，南達科他州共和黨參議員約翰·圖恩(John Thune)開始提交一個法規議案，支援網路中立原則，禁止付費優先通路以及封鎖或限制任何網頁內容的做法。但該法規也將禁止FCC為實現這些目標來制定規則。本週，共和黨人因為支持者太少、無法快速推動而放棄了這些做法。

Also at the Thursday meeting, the F.C.C. approved an order to pre-empt state laws that limit the build-out of municipal broadband Internet services. The order focuses on laws in two states, North Carolina and Tennessee, but it would create a policy framework for other states. About 20 states, by the F.C.C.’s count, have laws that restrict the activities of community broadband services.

也是在週四的會議上，FCC批准了一條命令，事先禁止了各州限制市政府擴建寬頻網際網路服務的法律。該命令主要針對北卡羅來納州和田納西州的法律，但也為其他州建立了一個政策框架。據FCC統計，大約20個州有限制社群寬頻服務活動的法律。

The state laws unfairly restrict municipal competition with cable and telecommunications broadband providers, the F.C.C. said. This order, too, will surely be challenged in court.

FCC說，這些州的法律不公平地限制了市政部門與有線電視和電信寬頻服務提供商的競爭。這條命令必將會在法庭上受到挑戰。