The FCC wants input on draft language that would codify a set of principles that would set standards for issues such as competition by Internet service providers (ISPs), and transparency for consumers who seek information about the broadband service they purchase.
Big ISPs like Comcast and AT&T have argued that vendors should be allowed to sell customers differentiated service levels for Internet access, with prices adjusted for user bandwidth consumption. The ISPs also contend federal regulation mandating a neutral network will stifle the industry's ability to generate increased revenue, which they say is needed to reinvest in the nation's broadband infrastructure. The Obama administration and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (who helped author the president's technology policy) disagree and prefer unfettered access for all consumers.
"The increasing capability of broadband Internet access service providers to offer differentiated services and prices for traffic flowing over their networks has spurred a debate about the public policy implications of using that capability. In particular, some parties have expressed concerns that, absent appropriate oversight, broadband Internet access service providers could make the Internet less useful for some users or applications by differentiating traffic based upon the user, the application provider or the type of traffic," according to the FCC notice.
"Other parties have suggested that the problems 'are all potential problems, not actual problems' and that the 'fundamental inability to demonstrate any evidence of an actual market failure confirms what all the rhetoric in the world cannot obscure: Net neutrality is a solution in search of a problem.'''
Comments are due Jan 14, 2010. The FCC will respond no later than March 5.
