The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Prevention and Elimination of Digital Discrimination
In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts rules pursuant to section 60506 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Act) that establish a framework to facilitate equal access to broadband internet access service by preventing digital discrimination of access. These rules address policies and practices that impede equal access to broadband, while taking into account issues of technical and economic feasibility that pose serious challenges to full achievement of the equal access objective. The rules constitute an effective, balanced means to accomplish Congress's objective of ensuring that historically unserved and underserved communities throughout the Nation have equal opportunity to receive high-speed broadband service comparable to that received by others, without discrimination as to the terms and conditions on which that service is received.
What this rule actually says
The FCC is requiring broadband internet service providers to stop discriminating when they sell or deliver internet access. For example, an ISP can't throttle speeds differently based on what service a user is accessing, or charge more for certain types of traffic. The rule is about preventing ISPs from creating unfair "fast lanes" and slow lanes—not about what founders build on top of the internet.
Who it applies to
- If you're a broadband ISP selling internet service directly to consumers or businesses. This applies to you. If you're not—you're building an app, chatbot, or service that runs *over* the internet—skip to the bottom line.
- Jurisdiction: United States only. The FCC has authority over telecom carriers, not software companies.
- AI use cases affected: None directly. An AI medical scribe, hiring assistant, or support chatbot are all software products. They don't sell broadband access.
- User data: The rule doesn't restrict what data you collect from users. It restricts *how ISPs treat traffic*, not application-level data practices.
What founders need to do
- Confirm you're not an ISP (5 minutes). If your business model is "sell people internet access," you need legal counsel immediately. If you're selling software or services that run over the internet, you're almost certainly not covered.
- Monitor if you ever launch ISP-adjacent products (ongoing, low effort). If you ever consider bundling internet service with your product, or partnering with an ISP to prioritize your traffic, flag it for a compliance check then.
- Don't assume this affects your AI product roadmap (already done). Your chatbot's performance depends on your users' ISP, not on this rule. Build what you planned.
Bottom line
Ignore this rule—it's for broadband carriers, not software founders, unless you're literally selling internet access.