Telecom Trends: FCC chair agrees no new rules are needed

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

FCC chair agrees no new rules are needed

A little more than a year ago, I wrote that no additional laws are needed to protect the internet from discriminatory practices by internet access service providers.

Today, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin told the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that his agency has all the authority it needs and that new legislation is unnecessary. He was speaking at a hearing on the future of the Internet.

He reiterated the FCC's Internet policy principles and included a comment on the application of network management:

To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet,
Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice;
Consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement;
Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network;
Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.
The Commission explicitly noted that these principles were subject to reasonable network management.

The full text of his statement can be found