망중립성에 대한 규범적 논의

Abstract

At the beginning, opened architecture of the inter-net technology brought about innovation and development. However, environmental changes of the Information and Telecommunication need a socialeconomic revaluation of the neutral network. The changes also cause conflicts among various kinds of interests. The end-to-end principle of the network is a technological basis of neutrality. As possibility of technical control becomes strong, it needs to be revaluated by brand new measures, such as discrimination and efficiency. There is a controversial issue over the net neutrality to support an open access platform which treats all data in public network without discrimination. The issues of the dispute extends from technological debate to relevant industry parties’ interests, and also extends to consumer’s rights these days. However, the existing dispute focuses on only relevant technology and gain and loss of parties directly involved economically, while the inter-net can affect all people in all area. It seems hard to reach a compromise due to technological developments in information control and conflicts of the persons’ interests. Therefore, we need to have a normative discussion over the net neutrality. But technological and economic views on the issues cannot directly be a normative law because of limits the views have got. At this point, we need to have a brand new type of normative discussion and to consider legislations under Constitutional law. The process of the net neutrality revaluation should start from the effort to understand what the net neutrality is. In modification of relevant law systems, understanding what the net neutrality is can be a standard for a consistent principle. Equality of access and information(packet) is a crucial part for the innovation and the alteration, and also it has boosted fundamental human rights. Therefore, problems of the net neutrality must be resolved not by how to design the inter-net system and to regulate the inter-net, but by understanding what the net neutrality affects and protection of the net neutrality. The inter-net is a public tool for all people to use for their own innovation. And it plays a role as an infrastructure in information-oriented society. The net neutrality principle, created naturally, is the foundation of the innovation and increases fundamental human rights. The net neutrality is peculiar because it tends to preserve original values of the inter-net via a realization of data equality. A legal concept of the net neutrality needs to be technology-neutral and to accomplish a concept of justice. Therefore, the net neutrality means that governments or ISPs must not violate people’s fundamental human rights against blocking access or unreasonable discrimination in transmitting of senders-recipients,information(packet), device. The equality is not only a purpose of the constitutional law but also a measure to protect another basic values of the law. Researches or debates on the nature of the net neutrality have been done not so much because only conflicts of the economically relevant parties’ interests have been focused by this time. And also preparations for possibility or necessity of legislation have been not enough in understanding the nature of the net neutrality because there is not enough consideration of the technological or economical views’ limits. Neutral and open managements of the inter-net have leaded to the innovation and increased fundamental human rights. Therefore, the problem we have is not a choice in whether the net is managed neutrally,but rather it is a consideration of the regulation over the technology, affects innovation and fundamental human rights. It should be a reestablishment of fundamental human rights and a united legal system.