What Level 3 v. Comcast Says About the FCC’s Obsolescence

The “commercial disagreement” between Comcast and Level 3 is still ongoing, and while many (including the cable company) portray it as a simple peering disagreement, it’s also illuminating two things about the current state of the Internet: The first is that the lack of competition in access providers is the underlying issue at the core of this dispute, and the second is that this lack of competition means we need to come to some sort of regulatory compromise on net neutrality or lay new pipe to businesses and consumers. Laying new pipe isn't really an option, however, and the Federal Communications Commission is so emasculated, it’s possible that we won't get regulations to solve this problem. If that’s the case the web as we know it is in trouble.