May 2008

[Commentary] House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Internet stalwart Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) have introduced the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (HR 5994). This bill provides a nice complement to the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (HR 5353), introduced by House Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS). As so often happens in Congress, legislation tends to track jurisdiction. In real terms, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, looking at a telecom issue, will introduce a bill over which that committee has jurisdiction. The Conyers-Lofgren bill would subject Net Neutrality violations to the possibility of an antitrust suit – a subject area over which the Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction. The Markey bill, by contrast, takes its authority from the Communications Act, which happens to be under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Markey’s bill add to the catch-all Title I of the Communications Act the principles of the Federal Communications Commission’s policy statement on the Internet, and non-discrimination language of the Act designed to apply to the telephone network as it was before the Commission decided that high-speed Internet services didn't have the “burden” of carrying everyone’s traffic without interference, that is, as “common carriers.” These two bills are not mutually exclusive. The Communications Act has existed since 1934 governing how the telecom markets in this country would function, for better or worse. For years, the FCC regulated the telephone industry, overseeing rates and subsidies, equipment and related issues. It was under the antitrust laws that the old Bell System was broken up into what were in 1984 seven Regional Bell companies and the long-distance AT&T. It was also under the auspices of the antitrust laws, thanks to Clinton Administration appointee Joel Klein, that the Bell System began to put itself back together when the Justice Department allowed Bell Atlantic to merge with Nynex in 1997.
http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1567

In a speech to the Broadband Properties Summit last month, Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said, "I have been a strong proponent of a light regulatory touch for broadband service provided over cable systems, telephone lines, power lines, and wireless platforms. This helps ensure what we refer to as a level playing field - or equality of regulation - among competing providers, no matter the technology or business model. Such a light-touch approach also is consistent with my regulatory philosophy, which is simple, straightforward, and built on a long tradition of limited but effective government. It calls for, first and foremost, regulatory humility. I look to and especially encourage the industry to put forward creative, market-based solutions whenever possible. I recognize that most of the consumer benefits we see in the communications sector of the U.S. economy are directly related to the significant levels of competition in this sector, driven by deregulatory policies that have encouraged investment and thus fostered that competition. Of course, I also understand the need for regulation to promote well-specified social goals that otherwise might not be addressed, such as E911. More specifically, I understand the need for regulation if and when there is a clear market failure. Such market failure is probably less common in communications markets as compared to other sectors, but we should not assume that it does not exist."
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-282030A1.doc

Municipal broadband networks could help boost the availability of high-speed Internet access and even help to ensure Net neutrality in the U.S., said Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist at Google. Cerf, known as one of the fathers of the Internet for his role in creating its basic architecture, spoke at a lunch in Seattle, a city that is investigating the possibility of building its own broadband network. Seattle would follow its southern neighbor Tacoma, which has been operating its own fiber network for several years. Cerf disputed arguments that operators sometimes give for why they should be able to limit or block bandwidth-hungry applications on their networks, and suggested that since they don't have technology facts to back up their arguments, people should be able to build their own networks to meet their needs.
http://www.itworld.com/Net/2613/vint-cerf-supports-municipal-broadband-0...

Charter Communications, one of the nation's largest ISPs, plans to track the web surfing habits of its customers in order to help third-party net advertising networks tailor ads to its subscribers in a pilot program set to begin in a month. In letters being sent to some of its 2.7 million high speed Internet customers, Charter is billing its new web tracking program as an 'enhancement' for customers' web surfing experience. The company is aware of the privacy and transparency concerns, but believes the program will benefit its customers and its own bottom line.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/charter-to-inse.html