The FTC released today its report on net neutrality, a product of the agency’s Internet Access Task Force. It’s a backbreaker — 160 pages (PDF here) of dense material authored by at least 16 people and covering a tremendous amount of territory, starting with the rise of ARPAnet and ending with the current debate.
In short, I can’t read it. After scanning the turgid, legalistic and heavily footnoted prose, I gave up reading all but the last section where the report identifies “guiding principles that policy makers should consider in evaluating proposed regulations or legislation relating to broadband Internet access and network neutrality.”
Among these principles are 1. promote competition in the broadband distribution business 2. proceed with caution and 3. watch out for adverse and unintended consequences of regulation.
Public Knowledge, however, is doing its job and taking this report seriously. They praise the FTC for its investigation into the issue, but take issue with one idea embraced in the report, namely that discrimination by broadband providers can often serve the public welfare (e.g., give doctors priority to engage in telemedicine.) In a statement, the group’s President Gigi Sohn said
It is unfortunate that the FTC staff chose to talk about the differentiation of services, which under some conditions could be beneficial to consumers and network companies, instead of discrimination, which helps no one.
Cynthia Brumfield at 3:57 PM|Comments(3)
Here's the press release. An easier read:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/06/broadband.shtm
I want to point out that the FTC emphasized that they will continue to closely monitor net neutrality as will the FCC and Department of Justice and the public is encouraged to help monitor the issue as well. We at Hands Off the Internet appreciate this approach, rather than impose regulations and laws that would lead to a series of unintended consequences.
Posted by: HandsOffPlease at June 28, 2007 10:55 AM
Turgid unreadable prose is usually a sign they have put some poison in that they don't want you to find. I will have to read the report as soon as I have a chance.
Posted by: Alice Marshall at June 28, 2007 7:15 AM
Thoughts from Jeff Campbell of Cisco on the FTC's report can be seen here: http://blogs.cisco.com/gov/2007/06/ftc_gets_it_right_on_net_neutr.html
His Net Net on NN: "There is no reason to rush to impose burdensome Net Neutrality regulations in the broadband market. If there is one thing that we have learned from 70+ years of communications regulation, it is that regulation has significant costs and unintended consequences. The FTC clearly recognizes that government should react to actual problems, not hypothetical ones."
Posted by: John Earnhardt at June 28, 2007 12:42 AM
Blogs We Read
