February 2016

Bill Clinton’s telecom law: Twenty years later

Washington’s tech policy wonks are celebrating an anniversary this week: 20 years ago, President Bill Clinton signed the 1996 Telecommunications Act into law at the Library of Congress.

Designed to de-regulate aspects of the telecommunications business, it was the first overhaul of the law that created the Federal Communications Commission in more than six decades. Supporters of the law said it would create more competition in the telecommunications industry that, at the time, was only beginning to grapple with the transformative power of the Internet. Among other things, the bill brought deregulation to the cable industry and lifted the national cap on radio station ownership. It also eased the rules that apply to broadcasters. It touched on universal service, the idea that the government should help make sure that all Americans have access to communications services. The act authorized the FCC's E-Rate program, which helps connect schools and libraries. A number of technology groups will commemorate the law’s passage next week, with players from big-name technology companies participating.

Battle for network neutrality isn't over

[Commentary] If you thought the fight over net neutrality ended when the Federal Communications Commission issued its strong new "Open Internet" rules, think again.

The new rules are under attack. Internet providers are challenging them in the courts and are trying to evade them with new kinds of business plans. Even if they survive the legal challenge -- and I think they will -- they could still be undermined by broadband providers like Comcast and AT&T. Either way, the threat to the open nature of the Internet remains worrisome and real. "The really big move is turning the Internet into the equivalent of a cable system, where it's a managed network," said Susan Crawford, a professor at Harvard Law School and an outspoken critic of the big broadband providers. "If Comcast and these guys get away with this, other carriers around the world will try to do the same thing."

Despite being asked to do so, the FCC didn't ban zero-rating programs in its net neutrality rules. However, it tacitly acknowledged that they could violate the spirit of net neutrality and vowed to keep an eye on them. Reportedly, the agency is studying the issue. It's time for the FCC to take a bolder stance and ban them outright. Zero-rating plans may sound good, but they're bad for the Internet and consumers in the long run.

Net Neutrality Again Puts FCC General Counsel at Center Stage

In his two years as the Federal Communications Commission’s general counsel, Jonathan Sallet has taken center stage in some of the most divisive debates in Washington.

He helped shape and then defend the network neutrality law. His input helped kill the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger. In recent days, the cable industry has closely tracked his thinking about a merger between Charter and Time Warner Cable, concerned about a similar result.

“Typically a general counsel is like an administrator,” said former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. “But in Jon you have an administrator who is also a policy maven and political strategist.” Sallet will draw more of the spotlight in coming months, a period that could shape the tech and cable landscape for years to come.

The agency is set to take a position on the Charter and Time Warner Cable deal, as well as vote to open the market of set-top cable boxes to new competitors. And the decision in the net neutrality case, the one he prepared so long and hard for, is also expected.

The FCC Gets Ready to Unlock the Cable Box

[Commentary] Every year, American cable-TV subscribers spend $231 on average to rent cable boxes that they should be able to buy outright, potentially saving them hundreds of dollars over several years. Consumers could soon have that option under an excellent proposal by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. If the industry had its way, we would still be renting phones from the old Ma Bell. Allowing consumers to buy their own phones was one of the first steps the FCC took in promoting new telecommunications technologies. Requiring cable-TV systems to make room for competing devices should similarly lead to a boom in new types of services and technologies.