FCC Is Deluged With Comments on Net Neutrality Rules

by Steve Lohr, The New York Times 

With the first comment period on new open Internet rules proposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set to close on Friday, the agency has already received about 780,000 comments, most of them urging the agency not to pursue rules critics say will be the end of the open Internet.

The FCC was ordered to retool its 2010 “Open Internet Order” by the courts earlier this year, prompting a proposal from FCC chairman Tom Wheeler that would allow for “commercially reasonable” deals for access between Internet service providers and Internet content providers.

Critics say the proposal would explicitly allow for the creation of a tiered Internet of fast and slow lanes, enabling people to pay for better and faster Internet access and degrading the competition and benefits the Internet has brought to the U.S. economy.

Kevin Werbach, a former F.C.C. counsel and an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said, “The way this has been framed for a lot of people is that the F.C.C. is trying to change the Internet as we know it.”

Many open Internet advocates want the FCC to instead reclassify Internet service as a common carrier, an option strongly opposed by cable and phone companies, who also oppose “prescriptive rules,” saying the Internet is flourishing in the U.S. and does not require further regulation. A second comment period on the proposed rules ends Sept. 10, with the FCC expected to make a final decision by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

The two sides have made their stances clear in their formal comments to the commission. The Internet Association, whose members include Google, Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, stated that today’s Internet is an “engine of economic growth, innovation and democratic values,” which it termed a “virtuous circle.” It added that “the Internet’s continued success is not inevitable,” saying that “broadband Internet access providers continue to have the ability and the incentive” to interrupt that engine.

In a statement, Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Association, said, “The F.C.C. must act to create strong, enforceable net neutrality rules and apply them equally to both wireless and wireline providers.”

The phone and cable companies, by contrast, are resisting what they call “prescriptive rules,” as Verizon described possible constraints in a comment. The broadband network operators agree that the Internet is thriving, and thus, according to a Verizon comment, that “there is little call for regulators to intervene,” other than on a case-by-case basis.

What the phone and cable companies most fear is an option open to the F.C.C.: to oversee the Internet under its Title II authority. That would mean declaring the Internet a common carrier, a utility, which they say would be a misguided overreaction.   Article

DCL: This is a battle between what is best for us, the common users, and the profit motive of commercial interests.  Oversight and regulation, although far from perfect, is the only way to ensure that you will not be faced with the choice of being gouged with high prices for Internet service or being crowded out of any reasonable service at all.  The Internet is now a way of life.  Make sure your political representatives in Washington understand the importance of this decision before the FCC.