Net Neutrality and Over The Top services: a complex relationship in the telecommunications ecosystem

If we consider the expansion of digital technologies and their penetration in all spheres of life in our contemporary societies, we can appreciate various processes of change in difference with the previous socio-technical configurations where the regulations about these technologies, especially the Internet, and the battles for imposing or repealing a regulation are fundamental to understanding many of the processes, practices and subjectivities of our contemporary societies. This paper analyzes the relationship between the debates about the services and applications Over The Top in direct connection with the debates, regulations and strategies to consolidate or repeal the Net Neutrality focusing on the different actions of the actors at stake, mainly in the USA since 2003. Net Neutrality is addressed from the battles to impose or repeal a regulation that defends and generates certain obligations and responsibilities for certain actors at stake –and not others– directly or indirectly affecting users. Likewise, OTTs are analyzed because they are the main digital spaces, platforms, applications and services that existing and operating on the Internet, whose development and expansion influence and is strongly linked to the debates over Internet regulation crystallized in the Net Neutrality issue. As a result that we found, the current regulations on Network Neutrality mostly favor the OTT as privileged actors. That is why, in our conclusions we advocated for a broad norm that includes them without favoring over other actors.