Transparency Regulation as a Remedy for Network Neutrality Concerns: Experimental Results

Sluijs, Jasper P.; Schuett, Florian; Henze, Bastian

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1709268

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…(ii) Transparency rules: The imposition of transparency rules is seen by many as the panacea to protecting the open internet. In a study conducted on the effect of transparency on the behaviour of ISPs and consumers (Sluijs et al, 2010), the results were obtained based on four levels of transparency: no information, full information, full information to only a sublet of end-users and simplified information to all users (Read, 2012). The findings revealed that transparency allowed end-users to make informed decisions, spurred economic efficiency, increased consumer satisfaction and provided positive incentives to the ISPs to improve their quality of services, thereby stimulating competition in the market.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fleeting neutrality: The inadequacies of the ex-ante net neutrality regulations in India

Seth

2022

Competition and Regulation in Network Industries

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The paper seeks to address the economic and fundamental inadequacies of ex-ante net neutrality regulations in India. The current net neutrality regulations consider the internet service provider (ISP) market in a two-sided spectrum of content and application providers (CAPs) and end-users. However, the rapidly growing internet space has undergone numerous developments in recent years, giving rise to complexities such as vertical partnerships between the ISPs, CAPs and OTT service providers, the use of content delivery networks (CDNs) for the last mile, deployment of 5G on mobile devices, etc. The main hypothesis is that the ex-ante net neutrality regulations lack the tools to combat modern problems with their antiquated approach and measures. Accordingly, to analyse this proposition, the paper considers the existent literature on the fundamental aspects of net neutrality norms, and juxtaposes the economic and empirical findings from a post‐net neutrality regulation stance. The findings reveal that net neutrality measures that prohibit paid-prioritisation and zero-rating services lead to economic inefficiencies. Further, the restrictive net neutrality measures hamper investment and innovation in the market and fall short in dealing with vertical integration and the use of CDNs. Hence, to promote competition and protect net neutrality, especially in the lower layers of the ISP market, the paper recommends measures such as digital dynamism and transparency rules and studies the role of ex-post competition regulations in aiding net neutrality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fleeting neutrality: The inadequacies of the ex-ante net neutrality regulations in India

Seth

2022

Competition and Regulation in Network Industries

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“…This is currently not (satisfactorily) done and would potentially require ex ante NN rules. The usefulness of transparency in the context of NN is discussed in detail by Faulhaber (2010) and Sluijs, Schuett, and Henze (2010). Faulhaber (2010) emphasizes that information has to be easily accessible and understandable to be helpful in the NN context.…”

Section: Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the information should be verifiable. In contrast to this qualitative approach, Sluijs et al (2010) use an economic laboratory experiment to study the impact of transparency. They simulate a market with two ISPs and a potential customer base with human participants and vary the information about the delivered service quality available to the customers.…”

Section: Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

Net Neutrality: A Progress Report

2013

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“…Open access to the Internet is a topic that has the potential to draw substantial attention from a wide public, as has been demonstrated in the net neutrality incidents mentioned earlier. Moreover, there is evidence that suggests that transparency can also work if the information provided to the end users is not complete, or when the information does not reach all the end users (Sluijs, 2010). The key question, however, is whether consumers will indeed change ISPs in the current value chain environment.…”

Section: Transparency As a First Non-intrusive Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, there is evidence that suggests that transparency can also work if the information provided to the end users is not complete, or when the information does not reach all the end users (Sluijs et al, 2010). The key question, however, is whether consumers will indeed change ISPs in the current value chain environment.…”

Section: Transparency As a First Non-intrusive Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

Net neutrality and the value chain for video

Nooren

Leurdijk

Eijk

2012

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Net neutrality and the value chain for video Structured abstract according to Info guidelines Purpose Video distribution over the Internet leads to heated net-neutrality related debates between network operators and Overthe-Top application providers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this debate from a new perspective that takes into account all of the assets that companies try to exploit in the so-called battle for eyeballs in video distribution. Methodology We use a systematic value chain analysis to determine the points along the value chain where net neutrality interacts with video distribution. The inputs to the analysis are the existing and proposed policy measures for net neutrality in Europe and in the US, and a number of net neutrality incidents that have led to discussions earlier. Findings We find that the current and proposed policy measures aimed at net neutrality each contribute to a certain extent to their intended effects. However, our analysis also shows that they are likely to lead to new debates in other parts of the value chain, as players try to compensate the loss of influence or revenue streams by rearranging the ways in which they exploit their assets. Practical implications Further and new debates are expected in the areas of peering and interconnection, distribution of resources between overthe-top and managed services and the role of devices with tightly linked search engines, recommendation systems and app stores. Originality/value The new perspectives offered by our value-chain based analysis are valuable for policy makers who aim to promote net neutrality and simultaneously stimulate competition and innovation throughout the value chain. Net neutrality has, for a number of years, been a topic of often heated discussion in the Internet and telecom community. The issue was put firmly on the agenda by Tim Wu in his famous paper (Wu, 2003) following the discussion on a number of net-neutrality related issues by other authors (e.g. Lemley and Lessig, 2001). Since then, net neutrality has been analyzed extensively in academia and in regulatory circles (e.g. Marsden, 2010 and Marcus et al., 2008). Important recent regulatory positions are contained in the FCC's 2010 Report and Order (FCC, 2011), the European Commission's communication on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe (European Commission, 2011) and the European Parliament's resolution on that topic (European Parliament, 2011). Looking at the historical development of net neutrality, there are two dominant factors that fuel the discussions on this important topic. The first factor is the recurrence of incidents around limitations in the access that end users have to popular applications. The best-known incident is probably the Comcast case, in which the large US cable operator and ISP was accused of interfering with the ability of its customers to use the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing application (e.g. Marcus, 2010). Other well-known examples are the blocking of VoIP applications (such as Skype) by mobile operat...

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Transparency Regulation as a Remedy for Network Neutrality Concerns: Experimental Results

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Fleeting neutrality: The inadequacies of the ex-ante net neutrality regulations in India

Fleeting neutrality: The inadequacies of the ex-ante net neutrality regulations in India

Net Neutrality: A Progress Report

Net neutrality and the value chain for video

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