More on Net Neutrality: The play at the FCCBy: Jason Rosenbaum Tuesday April 6, 2010 3:00 pm
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Earlier today I covered the appellate court decision that says the FCC doesn’t have the right to enforce net neutrality in Internet regulation. I noted that this likely sends the battle for net neutrality to Congress, who would be required to pass a low giving the FCC power to regulate Internet Service Providers and enshrine net neutrality as law, not just the way business is currently done.
While this battle may well still end up in Congress, that’s not the only way to win net neutrality. Josh Silver at Free Press – an amazing advocacy group leading the way on this and other media reform issues – explains:
…the government agency that is charged with overseeing the nation’s communications infrastructure now has no authority to regulate broadband — the 21st century’s primary communications platform? While this would seem like a joke, sadly it is not. It is the result of failed Bush-era (de)regulatory policies that are once again failing to protect the public.
Here’s how it works:
Under intense pressure from phone and cable companies, the Bush FCC chose to reclassify broadband as an "information service" instead of a "communications service" that provides strong regulatory oversight of traditional telephone services. Problem is, the "information service" classification so lacks the required regulatory authority, that the court just decided the FCC can’t do anything. University of Michigan’s Susan Crawford explains it in detail here: http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100406_fcc_comcast_ancillary_jurisdiction_ancillary_to_something/
The good news is that there is a simple solution. FCC Chairman Genachowski must "reclassify" broadband as a "communications service." The formidable phone and cable companies will fight tooth and nail to keep that from happening, but the Comcast case has forced Chairman Genachowski’s hand: he must make the change. If not, the FCC has virtually no power to stop Comcast from blocking websites. The FCC has virtually no power to make policies to bring broadband to rural America, to promote competition, to protect consumer privacy or truth in billing. Bottom line: the agency has no power to enact the much-discussed National Broadband Plan, released just last month.
FCC Chairman Genachowski has been forced into a corner, and he will have to either stand up to the big companies and do the right thing, or watch his legacy at the FCC wash down the drain.
Free Press has launched a campaign (petition) targeted at the FCC and Genachowski pushing for this change. Click here to sign on: https://secure.freepress.net/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=437I expect the telecoms will marshal their army of lobbyists to try and stop the FCC from giving itself the power to regulate the Internet, something very much within its mission but do to rabid deregulation is currently illegal.
So besides Congress, this is the battle to watch on the issue.
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Link:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/39326Previous Post on NN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8098714:kick: