Defending DOJ Dropping Text Message Inquiry

[Commentary] Last week, the Department of Justice indicated it has dropped an investigation into text message rates. seems exactly right under existing antitrust law.

Does this leave consumers helpless? No. As we occasionally remind the Federal Communications Commission, we have a pending petition to classify SMS text messaging as a Title II "Telecom Service" that we filed way back in December 2007.

If the FCC granted this Petition, it would require that carriers charge only "reasonable rates" and engage in "reasonable" practices under Section 201 of the Communications Act. This would not require the FCC to impose "heavy handed regulation" or any of the other usual nonsense that gets brought up whenever someone suggest the FCC actually look at the legal criteria in the statute and do its job.