IP Democracy: Network2 to FCC: Keep Web Video Regulation-Free
On the first full day of Jeff Pulver’s second Video-on-the-Internet conference, held in San Jose, CA, Pulver’s online video service Network2 will petition the FCC asking that the Commission keep Internet video free of the kinds of content regulations that currently apply to broadcasting and cable services. In the filing, slated for submission on March 20, Network2 will ask the commission to declare that Internet video, specifically the service provided by Network2, is not subject to these kinds of regulations and that the Commission, moreover, does not intend to impose new regulations on Internet Video.
The preemptive strike is designed to head off the idea that content-oriented regulations should be applied to the diverse and booming Internet video sector. Although the prospect that the U.S. might start imposing content rules on Internet video services is (arguably) a distant one, the idea is gaining ground in Europe.
The European Commission has proposed a new directive, to be considered for final passage in May, which subjects to regulation anything that could be classified as “television service” regardless of platform. Network2 argues that the European directive, if passed, would impose extensive regulation on Internet video services, carrying with it the possibility of a variety of content restrictions, advertising quotas and sponsorship limits.
Canada, on the other hand, is going out of its way to insulate Internet video from any regulations. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has already issued an order exempting Internet video from regulation.
Network2 argues that the U.S. should follow suit because “even the threat of regulation can chill innovation and entrepreneurship, divert previous resources away from further growth and development of Internet Video, and send money and innovation abroad.”
Unlike the regulations imposed on cable and broadcast networks, which are premised on the idea that government licenses foster scarcity, Internet video is boundless and disaggregated from infrastructure, thus undermining the typical rationale for most content regulations, according to the petition.
To the contrary, the rise of Internet video services seems to be fostering the introduction of even more Internet video services, resulting in a dynamic marketplace where abundance is fueling even greater abundance. Quoting Hamlet (and you have to love an FCC petition that cites Shakespeare), Network2 states:
Unlike broadcast spectrum and cable franchises, Internet Video is demand limited, and demand is growing exponentially with supply ‘as if increase of appetite had grown by what it fed on.’
Beyond the regulatory rationales, a First Amendment right to free speech is further at risk if the Commission doesn’t come out with a hands-off policy toward video-on-the-Internet.
Websites and other Internet-based services that focus on publishing and distribution of video content should be entitled to the same First Amendment deference that applies to publishers of text.
Further, keeping Internet video free of regulation is crucial as a matter of sound economic policy, Network2 says.
The Internet is the only form of electronic media distribution that operates seamlessly across vast geographic and political borders. Because Internet Video production tools and playback software travel as easily as the content, even regional technical standards are irrelevant. Regulation that does not thwart innovation altogether may well cause it - and its economic benefits - to be exported to the most accommodating country.
In all likelihood, this petition will gather dust at the FCC as the regulatory agency moves ahead on at least two other proceedings aimed at establishing new policies on Internet video. But, it is a first move by any party that attempts to draw an Internet-based video regulatory line beyond which governmental authorities should not cross.
Pulver is filing this petition on the same day that his company, pulvermedia, will formally announce a new coalition, the Video-on-the-Net Alliance. The Alliance is aimed at creating a community of companies and individuals that will advocate and work toward regulation-free Internet-based video.
Update: The final petition has filed at the Commission is here on Jeff Pulver’s blog.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on March 20, 2007 1:39 AM to IP Democracy