FCC: We're
going to regulate the web
Agency announces plan to assert its authority
By Toni Fitzgerald
May 7, 2010
It looks like net neutrality wasn't just a campaign promise from President Barack Obama.
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday outlined a plan to reassert regulatory control over the internet, including the power to restrict internet service providers from slowing or blocking access to certain web sites.
The FCC, now dominated by Democrats, has stated its intent to enforce what's called net neutrality, essentially a broadband highway on which all users are treated equally, but that effort was waylaid by a federal appeals court ruling last month that said the agency lacked the authority to do so.
The court found that the FCC had overstepped its boundaries when it cited Comcast for interfering with the download speed for some customers two years ago.
At that time, the FCC said it would pursue whatever measures needed to gain regulatory control over the medium.
It bases its claim on its original charter decades ago in which it was given the power to regulate telephone companies. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski is leading the effort to have that authority spelled out to include ISPs.
The process will be a lengthy one, requiring public hearings and lots of debate, but with the Democrats in the majority, it would be expected to win FCC approval.
The battle over net neutrality promises to be a nasty one, on a par with the fight over regulating Wall Street that's now being played out on Capitol Hill.
Opposed to the idea are the major carriers such as Comcast; in favor are content providers, from eBay to online video producers, and consumer groups.
The content providers have long argued for net neutrality, fearful that if the ISPs had their way, they stood to face stiff overcharges for the extra bandwidth some of their services demand.
Consumer groups have supported net neutrality, believing that left to their own devices the ISPs would discriminate against those who could least afford their services.
The ISPs worry that if the FCC should gain the power to enforce net neutrality, it would use that broadened authority to interfere in all aspects of their broadband service.
The one trump card the ISPs hold is the threat to cut back on investment in their networks, essentially bringing a halt to the growth and availability of broadband around the country.
In any case, whatever the FCC approves, the ISPs will surely to take the issue to court to either scuttle or at least delay implementation of any new regulations.
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