“In America, where these very few ISPs have so much market power that they can extract payments, it’s just like the mob,” says Susan Crawford, who co-directs Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. “Just say, ‘you’re not going to reach our subscribers unless you pay us.’”
The Federal Communications Commission is getting more complaints about these deals. And, now, it has to decide what — if anything — to do about them. It’s not sure whether interconnection should be part of net neutrality regulations expected next month, tackled separately later on, or left alone completely.