New Cop for High-Speed Net?

NEW COP FOR HIGH-SPEED NET?
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Tom Abate]
When the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission delivered an important speech last year about competition in cyberspace, she ended her remarks by focusing on an issue that directly affects the 65 million U.S. households that have broadband Internet service. "We will continue our consumer protection work," FTC chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras said at a conference in Aspen, Colo., "by, for example, holding Internet service providers accountable for any false or deceptive representations to consumers concerning the nature of the Internet access provided." What Majoras meant by that remark should start coming into focus later this week when the FTC convenes two days of workshops designed to expand its scrutiny of business practices in cyberspace. Now, consumer advocates hope the FTC will take a hard look at how ISPs advertise broadband service by telling consumers that, for a certain monthly fee, they can access the Internet at speeds "up to" -- and then make a claim about speed. "Nobody knows what they get, and the consumer has no way of judging," said Mark Cooper with the Consumer Federation of America.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/02/11/BUGG3O194T1.DTL&type=business

* Learn more about the FTC's public workshop on "Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy" at http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/broadband/index.html