Obama Administration Supports Net Neutrality
Library advocates had long asked for non-discrimination regarding Internet traffic
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 09/22/2009
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- FCC Commissioner speaks
- New principles will receive rule-making
- ALA points to role of distance learning
Library advocates have long supported “net neutrality,” a principle under which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) choose not to privilege data from any provider or data of any type, and finally that principle has gained traction in Washington, DC. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday expressed support for the concept via two new principles: non-discrimination and transparency.
The American Library Association (ALA), which has pointed to the need for net neutrality to ensure that distance learning would be available at libraries, saluted FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski for his speech.
He stated that broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications, and that the providers must be transparent about their network management practices. ALA said it would respond to the FCC’s expected notice of proposed rulemaking regarding these two new principles.
Who wins
Wired pointed out that the impact of the new rules would stop cable providers from slowing online video—a potential competitor—as well as telephonic ISPs from slowing Internet-based calling services like Skype. Wired noted that two of the other four commissioners support Genachowski, indicating that the policy will succeed.
ALA position
ALA’s Office for Information Technology issued a Policy Brief, “A Library Perspective on Network Neutrality,” in December 2006.
ALA warned, “A world in which librarians and other noncommercial enterprises are of necessity limited to the Internet’s slow lanes while (for example) commercial high-definition movies can obtain preferential treatment seems to us to be overlooking a central priority for a democratic society.”
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