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FCC to Overhaul Regulation of Internet Lines

by Amar Toor on May 6, 2010 at 10:15 AM

FCC Overhauling Internet Lines
For the better part of the last decade, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has maintained a relatively laissez-faire approach to the Internet. In recent years, though, Internet titans like Google and Amazon have more vocally implored the FCC to implement hard regulation requiring broadband providers to guarantee access to all Web sites. Now, FCC Chairman Julius Genchowski is finally set to unveil a new broadband regulatory plan, and, depending on how ambitious the proposal is, it could very well trigger an avalanche of corporate and legal disputes.

Genachowski's framework, according to the Wall Street Journal, will include a proposal for the adoption of "Net neutrality" rules, which would prohibit Internet providers from blocking or slowing access to specific Web sites. Cable and telecom companies, though, have long insisted that applying land-line telephone rules to broadband traffic management would only force them to cut capital, cut jobs and go to court to challenge the regulation. It seems their primary concern is that any potential FCC regulation would force individual cable companies to share their networks with rivals, at government-mandated prices, no less.

Consumer groups, however, have already come out to express their support of the FCC's decision, after having bombarded Genachowski with e-mails and phone calls, asking him to take a stand against cable company lobbyists. Another likely proponent of the plan is President Obama, who promised to support Net neutrality regulation during his campaign, and has been a close friend of Genachowski's since their days together at Harvard Law.

The proposal is expected to be announced today, but it will still have to go through a lengthy inquiry and rule-making process that could take months. Since it already has the support of two other Democratic commissioners, many feel as if its ratification is all but guaranteed. All that really remains to be seen, then, is how far Genachowski extends his Commission's regulatory reach. The fact that the FCC has decided to take any action, though, is an encouraging sign in and of itself. It'll require a delicate balancing act to establish rules that are hard enough to guarantee Net neutrality, yet still fluid enough to placate profit-seeking Internet providers. At the very least, though, Genachowski's plan should lay down some fundamental rules to guide the debate that's guaranteed to erupt between lawmakers, consumer groups and telecom companies. [From: WSJ]

Tags: broadband, BroadbandPricing, BroadbandProvider, cable, FCC, government, Internet, JuliusGenachowski, ObamaAdministration, policy, regulation, top, web

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