FTC Chair OK with Paying For Higher-Speed Broadband

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz said Friday he has no problem with charging more for higher Internet speeds or heavy Internet usage, so long as the bill does not come as a surprise. He also confirmed that Google is being investigated for violating the prohibition on interlocking board members, but says that he does not think its dominance of search automatically equates to anticompetitive practice and doesn't think it is abusing its power. Chairman Leibowitz indicated that the FTC may weigh in on the Federal Communications Commission's inquiry on crafting a national broadband plan. He said broadband was a deregulated industry, which was a good thing, but that you needed law enforcement to make sure that people were doing the right thing. He also said he was hoping that both sides of the network neutrality debate were ratcheting down the rhetoric.