FCC Head Proposes Rules Supporting Net Neutrality
The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission announced regulations September 21 that would prevent internet service providers from blocking or slowing web traffic over their networks. The rules make good on a campaign promise by President Barack Obama to support net neutrality—the concept that network providers should not discriminate regarding the sites or applications to which they provide access.
Speaking at the Brookings Institution, Julius Genachowski said the regulations will take the form of two internet principles that would be added to four existing ones issued by the FCC in 2006. He stated (PDF file) that the new principles would call for 1) nondiscrimination—“broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular internet content or applications”—and 2) transparency—“providers of broadband internet access must be transparent about their network management practices.”
The rules, which would apply to both wireless and landline services, will be formally proposed at an FCC meeting in October. The Washington Post reported September 22 that the proposal is expected to pass with votes from the three Democratic commissioners serving on the five-member agency. That vote will set in motion a series of regulatory procedures that are expected to lead to a final rule to be introduced next spring.
The same day Genachowski announced the regulations, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), ranking member of Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, introduced an amendment, cosponsored by five other Republican senators, to an Interior Department appropriations bill that would block FCC funding for implantation of net neutrality principles. However, Senate Republicans had reconsidered their effort to defund the proposal by the end of the following day, according to the Post. “While we are still generally opposed to net neutrality regulations, we have decided to hold off on the amendment because [Genachowski] approached us and we are beginning a dialogue,” a staff member on the committee told the newspaper.
In a statement, the American Library Association said it “has long supported the goal of a free and open internet, and we applaud the chairman for his goal of developing a principle of nondiscrimination and one of transparency.” Noting that Genachowski also announced that the FCC will release a notice of proposed rulemaking on the two new principles, ALA added that it looks forward to submitting comments.
The fight to defend net neutrality has been waged by the library community and other open-access groups for years: In 2006, ALA’s Office of Information Technology Policy released an issue brief on the topic (PDF file).
—Gordon Flagg, American Libraries Online Posted on September 23, 2009.