Net Neutrality

Know More: Antitrust 2.0, Antitrust

In Washington, D.C., there is debate between both houses of Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on whether owners of broadband telecommunications networks should be permitted to block or charge different prices for certain content or applications traveling over the network.

Broadband providers (e.g. AOL, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T) sought legislation allowing them to expand Internet pricing options, by giving them the ability to charge subscribers or content providers premiums based on factors such as security risk, communication speed, and bandwidth requirements. This might lead to a two-tiered system in which broadband providers decide who got high-speed access for content to be seen first. Content and product providers (e.g. Amazon.com, Google, Yahoo!) became concerned that the broadband providers might discriminate against their access.
The FCC endorsed net neutrality in August 2005, and adopted four principles to be incorporated into its ongoing policymaking activities: (1) consumers entitled to access the lawful Internet content of choice; (2) consumers entitled to run applications and services of choice, subject to law enforcement; (3) consumers entitled to connect choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; and (4) consumers entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers. Verizon and AT&T, two large network providers, are obligated to comply with the FCC's net neutrality policy statement until 2008.

On June 8, 2006, the House of Representatives rejected an amendment to its telecommunications bill that would have added net neutrality provisions. In June 2006, the Senate Commerce Committee passed its telecommunications bill without net neutrality provisions.

The FTC began to offer insight as to how it was approaching net neutrality. Competition generally resulted in the best results for consumers, and markets were usually self-correcting. The FTC would use its existing authority to ensure that network providers would not discriminate unlawfully against content providers. Proponents of net neutrality regulation had not gone to the FTC to explain where the market was failing or what anticompetitive conduct should be challenged.

Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

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