SENATE CHAIR TAKES ON FTC IN NET NEUTRALITY FIGHT
[SOURCE: PC Magazine, AUTHOR: Chloe Albanesius]
Sen Byron Dorgan -- Chairman of the Senate Interstate Commerce, Trade and
Tourism Subcommittee -- tangled with the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday,
calling into question the agency's hands-off approach to Internet regulation.
"We're headed toward a circumstance where big providers that have a lot of
muscle
will set up different lanes and freeways" over the Internet and
provide quicker download times or site access for those willing to pay for it,
he said. "We're concerned that regulating prematurely and perhaps on such a
broad basis
really could serve to squelch this market in a way that's harmful
to consumers," responded FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. Regulating the
Internet "will prevent business models from developing," according to Chairman
Majoras. Sen Dorgan disagreed, pointing to the entrepreneurs behind Google.
"Would two guys in a dorm room have access to consumers in X, Y or Z city if
big interests" demanded an Internet toll to reach certain Web users, he asked.
"We created this Internet system through innovation [and] if we get to a point
where we say now there's no non-discrimination rules," consumers could miss key
aspects of the online experience, he said. Chairman Majoras was not convinced.
Because the Internet is "so dynamic", there's no way a provider like Verizon
will be able to successfully quash online access without a backlash, she said.
"There will be a cry like no tomorrow" if consumers are cut off and providers
will "lose a lot of customers," Chairman Majoras said. "I can't imagine
consumers tolerating not getting the content that they want." Chris Murray,
senior counsel with the Consumers Union, questioned where these aggrieved
customers might go. "I live two miles south of the White House and [have the]
choice of one provider," he said. "I can't get a cable modem in my
neighborhood. When I hear that 90 percent of consumers have a choice [with
ISPs], I find that difficult to believe when here I am in downtown D.C., in a
relatively affluent neighborhood, and I don't have the choice." Murray also
pointed to the difficulty in policing discriminatory practices by ISPs.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2182534,00.asp
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