Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 22, 2009 - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved controversial proposed rules governing internet access during its monthly public meeting. Commissioners on all sides of the debate stressed the importance of having an open internet, and in engaging in constructive dialogue on the issue going forward.
The move marked the beginning of a formal phase of regulating internet access. Although the FCC in August 2005 adopted a policy statement pledging fidelity to four Net neutrality principles, such a policy was never binding upon all broadband providers.
Additionally, the proposed rules go beyond those four generally-accepted neutrality principles.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a supporter of Net neutrality efforts for some time, noted that the FCC has been addressing open internet questions since 2005.
“[W]e face the dangerous combination of an uncertain legal framework with ongoing as well as emerging challenges to a free and open Internet,” he said.” Given the potentially huge consequences of having the open Internet diminished through inaction, the time is now to move forward with consideration of fair and reasonable rules of the road, rules that would be enforceable and implemented on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
Republican Commissioners Robert McDowell and Meredith Attwell Baker...
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 21, 2009 - As the Federal Communications Commission nears the
monthly meeting slated for Thursday to consider new regulations regarding Net neutrality, e-mail boxes across Washington are being flooded by all manner of interest groups staking their claim over neutrality and freedom on the Internet.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s decision to take steps toward formal Net neutrality regulations is not surprising, particularly given President Barack Obama’s
campaign pledge was to “strongly support the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.”
Businesses and interest groups have taken hard-line stances for and against Net neutrality. The term deals with how broadband providers may charge differential rates for preferred business customers.
“The rise of serious challenges to the free and open Internet puts us at a crossroads,” Genachowski said in a
September speech at the Brookings Institution. “We could see the Internet’s doors shut to entrepreneurs, the spirit of innovation stifled, a full and free flow of information compromised. Or we could take steps to preserve internet openness, helping ensure a future of opportunity, innovation, and a vibrant marketplace of ideas.”
Internet companies such as Amazon, Google, and...
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Friday, October 16th, 2009
By the Staff of BroadbandCensus.com
In a possible rebuke to President Obama and his new FCC chairman, 72 House Democrats signed on to a letter sent Friday to the five members of the Federal Communications Commission asking them to reconsider a proposal to adopt "network neutrality" rules. Among the members who signed the letter include leaders of the Blue Dog coalition - a group of conservative-leaning Democrats, and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"It's a pity that 72 members of the Blue Dog Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus are deserting one of the fundamental planks of President Obama's platform - a free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet," said Public Knowledge co-founder Gigi Sohn. "The people who those members of Congress represent are the most at risk from the closed, controlling Internet that the phone and cable companies...
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
Public Knowledge's sixth annual "IP3 Awards" - which celebrates information policy, intellectual property, and internet protocol - drew a crowd of Washington's technorati to the Sewell-Belmont House in Washington on Thursday evening.
Among the guests dropping by the event included White House science and technology policy aide Susan Crawford, the Obama administration's designee to be intellectual property czar Victoria Espinel, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, Office of Science and Technology Policy chief of staff Jim Kohlenberger, NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.
Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn recommitted her organization to the principles of Net neutrality and to "balance" in the copyright wars. "Public Knowledge will not rest until we have an open internet," she said, and "universally accessable and affordable broadband."
On copyright, she said, the non-profit group was "locked in a constant battle with Hollywood," including a fight over the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement -- truly an intellectual property treaty -- which she said continues to be under seal and hidden from public disclosure.
Sen. Warner introduced one of the awardees, Karen Jackson, the Deputy Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Jackson received the "information policy" award "for leading the Commonwealth’s broadband mapping...
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
By Mercy Gakii, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com; and Rahul Gaitonde, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 - Six public interest organizations, including Consumers Union, on Wednesday filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to protect consumers from misleading and confusing advertising and billing practices by phone, cable and wireless providers.
The consumer groups argue that current protections are insufficient and urge the FCC to require meaningful, not misleading, disclosure.
These groups would like to force billing and advertising practices which are more transparent and easier to understand. These companies often offer introductory rates and special offers to some customers which then change without consumers knowing in advance when their rates will be affected.
The other organizations were Consumer Federation of America, Free Press, Media Access Project, the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge.
"When consumers have the facts, they can make informed choices," said Chris Riley, policy counsel of Free Press. "Consumers are being bombarded with inconsistent and incomplete information when shopping for service providers or plans, and then they are baffled by misleading and confusing bills once they sign up. Customers invest a lot of money in these services and spend a great deal of time using them. That’s why the FCC must...
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Sunday, September 27th, 2009
By Christina Kirchner, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, September 17, 2009 – Panelists with divergent viewpoints weighed in at the Federal Communications Commission workshop on September 17 on the question of whether the U.S. broadband policy should take cognizance of intellectual property issues such as copyright infringement
Moderator John Horrigan, consumer research director of FCC’s broadband initiative, said that the effort sough to discuss ways in which the content of the creative industries could be protected against piracy.
With dial-up internet access, downloading videos could take hours or even days. Then as the Internet has changed, the ability to download unauthorized content has grown easier, with audio or video clips downloadable within minutes.
A national plan to promote broadband might also end up facilitating the process of illegally downloading music or a video, some argued. That’s way some of the panelists urged that copyright be included in the national broadband plan.
“This tidal wave of piracy would hinder the innovation of broadband,” said Dan Glickman, CEO of Motion Picture Association of America.
Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, favored shaming tactics, or “service warnings,” against individuals engaged in copyright infringement.
When a person is about to illegally download a digital item, an internet service provider might trigger a pop...
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Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
By Jennifer Soffen, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, September 2, 2009 – The Federal Communication Commission’s Wednesday workshop on how to best benchmark broadband for evaluating the various dimensions of broadband across geographic areas highlighted the difference between measuring the current network versus focusing on internet users’ needs.
Richard Clarke, assistant vice president of public policy at AT&T, said that the FCC should benchmark broadband very broadly. This would allow the agency to cope with different classes of user necessity and service differentiation across user capabilities and time of day.
Clarke also argued that the FCC must establish benchmarks that do not vary over time.
Taking a different point of view was Harold Feld, legal director of Public Knowledge and Catherine Sandoval, Assistant Professor of Law, Santa Clara University. Feld and Sandoral said that the focus of benchmarks should be upon the American citizens’ right to use broadband – and should not be limited by usage availability or cost.
They also said that FCC benchmarks must somewhat be adaptive to the changing needs of consumers, and will inevitably change over time.
Where Clarke said that broadband should be tailored to different service levels depending upon the needs of different types of consumers, Feld, Sandoral and Scott Berendt said...
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Monday, July 13th, 2009
By Douglas Streeks, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, July 13, 2009 - A group of academic and industry representatives agreed Monday that some government regulation will be necessary to ensure a robust and competitive broadband market and continued innovation. The group spoke during a panel discussion sponsored by the Technology Policy Institute.
Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld said government policymakers have made a shift in how they think about broadband from merely a service to an entire ec0logy. While past policies focused on the number of lines laid and producer incentives, Feld said that going forward, new policies will focus on how all of these factors act together and affect our economy as whole.
But whether the role of government will be to "nudge the participant" into action or "actually building something" itself is still up for debate, he said. “Ten years ago, we thought convergence would create competition at every level,” but “whether competition is enough to meet our policy goals” is still unclear, he said.
Any debate must knowledge that the market is functioning well and is competitive, Verizon Communications Associate General Counsel David Hill said. Hill cited studies showing more than 90 percent of people in the U.S. have access to broadband...
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