After Google-Verizon fizzle, FCC should force Network Neutrality

The "Legislative framework proposal" on net neutrality released by Google and Verizon last week was a shock and a disappointment for those who had bought into Google's motto of "Don't be evil." It's a sad example of what happens when corporations are allowed to write regulatory rules -- and why the Federal Communications Commission needs to re-seize the reins on broadband regulation.

Congress could fix this by passing a network neutrality bill, but Senator John Kerry, who chairs the communications subcommittee, said that is unlikely to happen this year. Luckily, there's another solution: the FCC can rewrite the rules and reclassify broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service for the purposes of regulation. Needless to say, there are opponents of this approach. Some activists speak of "regulatory capture," under which ideologues or industry-affiliated wonks could come to control the regulatory apparatus. And the industry giants don't want to be regulated at all. But at the moment, the choice appears to be between having major industries self-regulate their Internet behavior, and having the FCC regulate it. Given that the Google-Verizon proposal seems helpful primarily to Google and Verizon at the expense of an open, innovation-friendly Internet, it's time for the FCC to step in.