FCC Schedules Vote on Net Neutrality
By Michael Kelley Dec 3, 2010FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined on Wednesday a new framework for net neutrality rules that would prohibit Internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking or discriminating against lawful content, but the draft rules contain points of concern for the library community.
The five-person commission is scheduled to vote December 21 on the proposal.
"We appreciate the chairman acting on net neutrality," Corey Williams, the associate director for the American Library Association's Office of Government Relations, told LJ. "We see it as a positive first step."
While prohibiting providers from blocking legal content, the proposal makes a distinction between wireline networks and mobile wireless services. The latter will only have a "basic no blocking rule," which could allow companies such as Sprint or AT&T flexibility to prioritize certain applications or sites on their networks.
Sprint applauded the distinction in a press release, but the ALA will be meeting with FCC staff members for clarification about the actual language of the final order, which is not made public until after the vote.
"The ALA has maintained the position that in order to achieve net neutrality there should, ideally, be no distinction," Williams said.
In comments to the FCC in October, the ALA, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and EDUCAUSE, wrote that "the application of network neutrality rules to wireless from the outset will ensure that any new services and devices develop within a framework that preserves the public interest...."
"To exclude wireless from the Open Internet rulemaking would leave a significant and growing portion of Internet users without the protection of a free and open Internet," ALA, ARL, and EDUCAUSE noted in their comments.
Mobile apps a concern
Gregory A. Jackson, a vice president for policy and analysis at EDUCAUSE, said the possibility that a mobile wireless network could prioritize applications or sites was a genuine concern.
"It's a real worry as the focus moves to apps," he told LJ. "The question of who gets to play in that game is going to be extremely important in the future because people want to get their education or library experience through what's riding on their belt," he said.
He said the overarching net neutrality principle should be that there is no discrimination on the basis of source, destination, or content.
Genachowski maintains that the commission will monitor developments in the mobile broadband market and "be prepared to step in to further address anti-competitive or anti-consumer conduct as appropriate."
Prue Adler, the associate executive director on federal relations and information policy
at ARL, told LJ that it was difficult to speak definitively until the final language of the order is made public, but she said there should not be different rules for different technologies.
She also expressed concern about the future actions of corporate players.
"We cannot predict how some of these large commercial actors will behave in the marketplace," she said. "It comes down to the FCC having the authority to see that the public interest is realized."
Pricing based on what goes through the pipeline
The proposal would also allow "usage-based pricing," which charges consumers varying rates depending on how much data they use. For example, a consumer viewing streaming video would pay more than one using email only.
"Usage-based pricing" is not the same as "paid prioritization," which the ALA, ARL, and EDUCAUSE warned was "fundamentally inconsistent" with the public mission of libraries.
An example of paid prioritization would be if NBC were to pay Comcast to favor the transmission of its programming, Jackson said.
But Williams said the ALA would be meeting with members of the FCC staff for clarification on "usage-based pricing."
The proposed framework would also oblige fixed and mobile ISPs to operate in a transparent manner "so consumers and innovators have the information they need to make smart choices...."
Transparency was one of the key principles of net neutrality that was outlined in March by 11 library and higher education-related institutions in a letter to the FCC.
Any measure, if passed, will face strong opposition from members of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives, who have argued that the FCC is overreaching its jurisdiction.
A decision in April by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw into doubt the authority of the FCC to regulate this area. The ruling said that the FCC could not sanction Comcast for slowing cable customers' access to BitTorrent, a file sharing service. (LJ reported on the implications implications of this decision.)
The draft rules do not reclassify broadband as a "Title II" communications service, a move opposed by the telecommunications industry because it would have enhanced the government's authority to regulate Internet access.
The bottom line, Williams said, is, "We want an equal playing field for everyone."
