There is an important discussion about the FCC's proposal to regulate broadband internet access. We present a number of pieces and links discussing this important issue.

The FCC’s Internet Power Surge:  The Constitutional And Statutory Limits On The FCC’s Authority To Promulgate “Net Neutrality” Rules

By Gregory G. Garre

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has established authority over the regulation of virtually all television, radio, satellite, and cable services in America.  Recently, the FCC has proposed an expansion of its authority into a new arena—broadband Internet access service.  In October 2009, the Commission noticed its intent to adopt rules governing traffic over the Internet.  Proponents of the FCC’s so-called “net neutrality” rules maintain that they would allow Internet traffic to flow more freely, while opponents claim that federal regulation in this area could stifle the innovation and growth that has been the hallmark of the Internet since it became a household word less than two decades ago.  Whatever the proper resolution of that important policy debate, there is a critical threshold question that must be answered—whether Congress has authorized the FCC to regulate at all in this area.  And upon examination, the FCC’s broad new assertion of power over the Internet is unsound.

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FCC Policy Statement 

1. The availability of the Internet has had a profound impact on American life. This network of networks has fundamentally changed the way we communicate. It has increased the speed of communication, the range of communicating devices and the variety of platforms over which we can send and receive information. As Congress has noted, “[t]he rapidly developing array of Internet . . . services available to individual Americans represent an extraordinary advance in the availability of educational and informational resources to our citizens.” The Internet also represents “a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.” In addition, the Internet plays an important role in the economy, as an engine for productivity growth and cost savings.

2. In section 230(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act or Act), Congress describes its national Internet policy. Specifically, Congress states that it is the policy of the United States “to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet” and “to promote the continued development of the Internet.” In section 706(a) of the Act, Congress charges the Commission with “encourag[ing] the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability” – broadband – “to all Americans.”

3. In this Policy Statement, the Commission offers guidance and insight into its approach to the Internet and broadband that is consistent with these Congressional directives.

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Google Comments

Our interest in this proceeding is straightforward: to keep the Internet awesome for everybody.

The Internet was designed to empower users. They are in control of the applications and content and services they use and create. And they – not network providers or anyone else – decide what ultimately succeeds in the online market.

One of Google's guiding principles is to “focus on the user and all else will follow.” It is a core value that we believe has served us and our users well. It's also what guides our involvement in this proceeding. We believe the FCC's proposed rules on broadband network openness put users first, and represent a balanced, flexible, and minimally intrusive approach to safeguarding the Internet's openness.

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Free Press Comments

Though the debate around network neutrality is heated and contentious, all sides agree that the abstract quality of “openness” is the defining characteristic of the Internet, and is why the Internet has risen from its original status as an obscure technology to become an essential infrastructure in a matter of years, not decades. Where the sides diverge is how to preserve this abstract quality of openness. Here, we believe the path is clear, and traces its way through decades of regulatory history -- history that teaches us a very important lesson: two-way communications networks are so critical to the basic functioning of our society that they must be operated in a non-discriminatory fashion, one that preserves open and efficient interconnection. Indeed, this lesson is at the heart of the Communications Act, and to deviate from it is to invite a peril that is so great and so costly, that it is nearly unfathomable... Thus, Network Neutrality unquestionably should be the cornerstone of America’s broadband policy.

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Comcast Corp. v. FCC (U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit): Brief Amicus Curiae of Professors Jack M. Balkin, Jim Chen, Lawrence Lessig, Barbara van Schewick, and Timothy Wu Urging that the FCC's Order Be Affirmed. Click here.

Comcast Corp. v. FCC (U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit): Brief Amicus Curiae of Free Press, Public Knowledge, Open Internet Coalition, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, and Vuze, Inc. Click here.