The US Federal Communications Commission has been in closed-door talks with AT&T, Verizon and Google to find a compromise over internet regulation.
The meeting was called by the FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski and was arranged to resolve the…
The US Federal Communications Commission has been in closed-door talks with AT&T, Verizon and Google to find a compromise over internet regulation.
The meeting was called by the FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski and was arranged to resolve the long-running dispute over net-neutrality rules that would govern how telephone and cable companies provide internet connections. The biggest bone of contention has been the large bandwidth that companies like Google’s You Tube or Skype take up on the internet.
Commentators have whispered that Genachowski is trying to cut a secret deal with the cable and telecom companies. This would renege on one of President Obama’s pledges as the FCC gives up its responsibility to protect the interests of internet users.
However, the FCC came out militantly to deny that this was the case with Jen Howard from the FCC saying: “We are fully committed to preserving the free and open Internet.” The long-running fight over net neutrality has pitted cable and phone companies FCC Chief of Staff Edward Lazarus is leading the meetings with a core group of six industry representatives. Among them are Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of Dallas-based AT&T; Tom Tauke, executive vice president of New York-based Verizon; Richard Whitt, telecommunications and media counsel for Mountain View, California-based Google; and Christopher Libertelli, senior director of Luxembourg-based Skype.
All six participants declined to comment publicly on the talks.
