Thanks!

“On fourth down with the future of the Internet on the line, the Federal Trade Commission decided to punt.”

That’s how Derek Turner of Free Press summed up the Federal Trade Commission’s new report on “Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy,” which was released today in Washington. After months of study, the FTC concluded that federal policymakers should “proceed with caution.” Talk about a missed opportunity.

To its credit, the FTC did recognize the overwhelming public support for Net Neutrality:

Consumers — particularly online consumers — have a powerful collective voice. In the area of broadband Internet access, they have revealed a strong preference for the current open access to Internet content and applications.

But the agency’s conclusions largely ignore broadband reality. Millions of Americans can’t access or afford high-speed Internet services, and the United States continues to slip in every global ranking of broadband progress. Yet while the FTC twiddles it thumbs, the same phone and cable companies whose anti-competitive policies created this sorry situation are now proposing to become gatekeepers over Internet content and services.

Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge scolded the FTC for standing on the sidelines:

Despite the fervent wishes of the FTC staff, there is not a competitive market for high-speed Internet services. New technologies, particularly wireless technologies, are not soon going to have the same robust qualities or market penetration as the duopoly cable and telephone-company services.

The FTC’s duty is to protect consumers. Yet this study includes no empirical research on competition in the local broadband market. It simply takes the incumbents at their word that the U.S. broadband marketplace is competitive — even though most U.S. consumers have at best two choices for broadband at home.

Media Access Project’s Harold Feld explains what’s at stake:

The FTC explicitly sidesteps what should be the central issue in our Network Neutrality policy debate: What will happen to the current vibrant civic and political discussions on the Internet if the cable and phone companies get to decide which speakers deserve faster speed? The Supreme Court has called the Internet a medium ‘as diverse as human thought.’ Without Network Neutrality, it threatens to follow the path of radio, television and cable and become instead a ‘vast wasteland’ where the ability to pay vast sums for premium treatment trumps the power of ideas.

The decision facing our policymakers in Congress and at the FCC is not about new regulations. Net Neutrality has been part of the Internet since its inception — and open access policies go back more than a century.

As Turner concludes:

The question is whether big phone and cable companies will be given a federal license to discriminate — or whether the free and open Internet will stay that way. This is not the time for caution, but rather for forward-looking and decisive action.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 8:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.