Yesterday’s proposals by the Federal Communications Commission to protect net neutrality have been met with sharp criticism in some quarters.
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski put forward proposals to stop ISPs blocking any “lawful content, apps, services…
Yesterday’s proposals by the Federal Communications Commission to protect net neutrality have been met with sharp criticism in some quarters.
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski put forward proposals to stop ISPs blocking any “lawful content, apps, services and the connection of non-harmful devices to the network”.
The proposals would also prohibit any form of discrimination against any form of lawful content, as well as imposing a transparency obligation on ISPs, which would requiring them to reveal more information to consumers.
The FCC chairman claimed that these proposals would ensure that the Internet remained “a powerful platform for innovation and job creation”.
But one of Genachowski’s fellow commissioners, Robert M. McDowell, called the proposals an “ill-advised manoeuvre” on the basis that they imposed more regulation of internet networks.
He said: “Such rules would upend three decades of bipartisan and international consensus that the internet is best able to thrive in the absence of regulation.”
US ISP Verizon said in a statement that it would reserve comment until it saw the provisions of the proposals being put forward. But it added that “inappropriate regulation can be very harmful to consumers, companies and the ability of this industry to create jobs, provide new services and be an engine for economic growth”.
The FCC will decide on whether to adopt these proposals in its open meeting on December 21.
Genachowski did find supporters in some quarters.
US telco Sprint Nextel said in a statement that, without having seen the details of the proposals, it felt that they presented “a fair and balanced approach to a difficult issue”.
It said that the FCC needed to recognise the need to keep the internet open, while also recognising the differences between fixed and mobile broadband, and the need to give broadband providers flexibility in managing their networks.
