High-tech Firms want to Maintain Network Neutrality

HIGH-TECH FIRMS WANT TO MAINTAIN NETWORK NEUTRALITY
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle 6/2, AUTHOR: Tom Abate]
The nation's largest high-tech trade association jumped into the network neutrality debate Thursday, siding with content providers like Google that want to stop telephone and cable companies from charging them higher fees for preferred Internet delivery. The 2,500-member American Electronics Association, which represents the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, urged Congress to give the Federal Communications Commission rule-making and enforcement authority to preserve the way Internet traffic is delivered on a first-come, first-served basis. Association President William Archey echoed the arguments of net neutrality proponents who say startups will be hurt if they have to pay for preferred delivery. "The low barriers to entry for such innovators must be preserved," Archey said. This unusual call for regulation by a trade group that generally opposes it is a blow to phone and cable companies that say they face big expenses to expand broadband access to homes and hope to recoup some of those costs by charging content providers. Otherwise, they say, consumers will have to pay the whole bill.
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