In the net neutrality debate most enterprise consumers of Internet services seem to favor maintaining the status quo, where traffic on the ‘Net is treated in a neutral fashion and service providers don’t try to enrich themselves by meddling with the bits. So the question really comes down to the lengths we are willing to go to ensure it stays that way.
After the U.S. Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., slapped the FCC’s wrist in the recent Comcast case — saying the Commission overstepped its bounds when it told Comcast not to throttle peer-to-peer traffic — questions emerged about whether the FCC has the authority to implement neutrality and, by extension, its larger broadband plan. Those questions were quickly followed by a raft of suggestions from net neutrality proponents about what should happen next.
Some argue, for example, that Congress should jump in and explicitly give the FCC authority to move forward with these efforts. Even though the Obama administration is a proponent of net neutrality, this seems like a long shot. Past congressional efforts on neutrality have fizzled, and it is doubtful lawmakers in an election year will have the stomach for this.
Others say the FCC should “simply” reclassify broadband services as common carrier services, a type it already regulates. While there are many proponents of this approach, they seem to be glossing over how complex this would be given the foundational nature of the classifications in telecom regulation and the likelihood that such an effort would result in a string of lawsuits. This would be a messy affair that would likely stall any industry progress. And at least two of the five commissioners — Robert McDowell and Meredith Baker — have come out saying they would oppose such a move.
Still other observers counsel patience. Dr. Alan Pearce, president of Information Age Economics, a former FCC chief economist who also worked with the Obama team on broadband stimulus issues, says the court of appeals ruling is narrowly defined and doesn’t mean as much as people are saying. The FCC can find mandate enough in existing doctrine to proceed with the neutrality and broadband expansion plan, he says.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn seems to agree. In a statement released after the Comcast decision she wrote: “We now have the kind of guidance that will enable us to develop the most effective and legally sound rules of the road to preserve Internet openness and to achieve other important goals set forth in the National Broadband Plan.”
Yes, net neutrality is important, but count us among those hoping the FCC can find a way to pursue it without having to wait for Congress to wake up and without having to rewrite the rule book.
