Groups ask for FCC workshop on Network Neutrality's impact on access to broadband

The Asian American Justice Center, the Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, and the National Conference of Black Mayors are again asking the Federal Communications Commission to move cautiously on Network Neutrality regulation.

The groups are asking the FCC to drill down into issues like whether network neutrality issues should apply to search engines and content and application providers -- the FCC has signaled it should be confined to the ISPs. They also suggest that a number of "facially neutral, idealistic" social policies unintentionally widened social divides by race and income, citing Medicare and Social Security, for example. It also points to school desegregation and the FCC's own minority broadcast ownership rules as examples of programs that failed to close divides due in part to insufficient enforcement. "What can be learned from these experiences and how can that knowledge be applied to the design and implementation of potential network neutrality regulations?" They ask whether the FCC should do more research into whether net neutrality rules would widen the divide or lengthen the timetable for closing it.