Internet trade group calls for self-regulation

An Internet-focused trade group has called for the industry to establish its own customer-rights code before Congress steps in.

The U.S. Internet Industry Association (USIIA), a Washington, D.C., trade group with more than 200 members, on Thursday called on ISPs to allow their customers to access the applications and content of their choice, as long as both are legal, and to acknowledge that their customers have a right to services needed to protect their Internet service against unwanted content such as spam and spyware.

Self-regulation could head off some calls for a U.S. law that would establish online consumer rights, said David McClure, USIIA president and CEO. "It's time for industry to step up to the plate and access a self-governing mechanism, so that Congress and the FCC don't have to," he added.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted earlier this month to end rules requiring large incumbent telecommunications carriers to share their DSL networks at a discounted rate with competitors, matching long-time cable modem rules. As the FCC deregulates broadband, Internet companies need to form a self-regulating industry board, similar to ones that police lawyers and accountants, McClure said.

USIIA's white paper, "Principles for Broadband and IP Services," builds on a group of consumer rights endorsed by the FCC earlier this month. Although the FCC didn't mandate the rights, it called on Internet providers to allow consumers the freedom to access the legal content of their choice, to run the applications and services they want and to connect to their choice of legal devices, as long as they do not harm the network.

The FCC has long endorsed consumer rights to access legal content and use applications they choose over broadband networks, with those rights sometimes called 'Net neutrality. But some lawmakers, consumer groups, as well as VoIP provider Vonage Holdings, have called for a law outlining those rights.

Three broadband providers have tried to restrict or block their customers from using Vonage, said Jeffrey Citron, Vonage's CEO. In March, the FCC settled a case with North Carolina broadband provider Madison River Communications, which agreed to pay $15,000 and stop blocking Vonage.

The two other cases aren't resolved, and with the FCC's recent DSL deregulation ruling, the FCC may no longer have the authority to fine broadband providers that block VoIP or other services, Citron said Tuesday at a Progress and Freedom Foundation event in Aspen, Colorado. More broadband providers looking to offer their own VoIP service will try to block independent services like Vonage, Citron predicted.

"It's just a matter of time," Citron said. "Is that really the principle we want in this country, where the operator of the service is excluding competitors?"

But some broadband providers, including USIIA member Verizon, say a law isn't needed, because it's not in the best interest of providers to restrict their customers. Customers who can't get to Web sites or services they want will ditch their providers and look elsewhere, said Peter Davidson, Verizon's senior vice president for federal government relations.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.