The Telecom Act of 1996 provided a major overhaul of telecom regulations. In particular it created two different classes of telecoms: telecommunication carriers and information service providers.  Telecom carriers were still regulated under the previous act (from 1934), however information service providers were essentially deregulated. This is important because due to this deregulation, information service providers no longer have to share their lines with competitors as the previous act had required. As a result of this information service providers can do almost anything with their lines, which has sparked the net neutrality arguement.