Are we in the final throes of the net neutrality struggle?

Created by Wendy Wigen (EDUCAUSE) on October 23, 2009

It is often felt that once an issue is memorialized on paper that the real discussion and debate is already over. This may or may not be the case with the Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) that the FCC released yesterday, but it does make one wonder. The Republican Commissioners and AT&T in particular, are acting like the fight has just begun… but has it? Google and Verizon made a joint statement that many areas of agreement exist, including the preservation of an “open” Internet. The old worn argument that all regulation is bad and stifles the market seems a bit foolish in the light of the recent melt down of Wall Street. As chairman Genachowski pointed out, historically, regulation has often worked to maintain competition and protect the consumer, thereby strengthening, not stifling, the market.

Perhaps the only problems left are the details. Not insignificant by any means, but largely confined to legal and technical wording of a regulation, not whether to regulate or not. This presents a wonderful opportunity for EDUCAUSE members to lend their expertise in managing complex and diverse networks to the process before the
FCC. The NPRM is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-09-93A1.pdf .

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		Are we in the final throes of the net neutrality struggle? Created by Wendy Wigen (EDUCAUSE) on October 23, 2009 It is often felt that once an issue is memorialized on paper that the real discussion and debate is already over. This may or may not be the case with the Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) that the FCC released yesterday, but it does make one wonder. The Republican Commissioners and AT&T in particular, are acting like the fight has just begun… but has it? Google and Verizon made a joint statement that many areas of agreement exist, including the preservation of an “open” Internet. The old worn argument that all regulation is bad and stifles the market seems a bit foolish in the light of the recent melt down of Wall Street. As chairman Genachowski pointed out, historically, regulation has often worked to maintain competition and protect the consumer, thereby strengthening, not stifling, the market. Perhaps the only problems left are the details. Not insignificant by any means, but largely confined to legal and technical wording of a regulation, not whether to regulate or not. This presents a wonderful opportunity for EDUCAUSE members to lend their expertise in managing complex and diverse networks to the process before the FCC. The NPRM is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-09-93A1.pdf . Washington Update \| AT&T \| FCC \| Genachowski \| Net Neutrality \| notice of public rulemaking \| NPRM Wendy's blog Login or register to post comments 23 reads
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