Verizon exec mocks double standard on network neutrality

Randal Milch, Verizon's vice president of public policy and general counsel, denounced a double standard on the part of federal regulators.

He argued that federal regulators are letting CBS do what his company would never be allowed to do: CBS is currently blocking its Internet videos for Time Warner Cable subscribers. The network began blocking the content after it and Time Warner were unable to reach an agreement for carrying CBS stations in certain markets. "I would point out that an [Internet service provider] denying access to content in the same way to gain commercial advantage in an unrelated dispute would be met with a network neutrality complaint in about a New York minute," Milch said during a speech at the Technology Policy Institute's annual conference. The Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality regulations bar Internet service providers from speeding up, slowing down or blocking access to any particular Internet content. The rules do not cover content producers, such as CBS.