The restart of discussions on a net neutrality agreement seems to have at least the tacit approval of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, industry officials said. Commission officials have made it clear that the agency probably won’t hold another round of discussion, after negotiations brokered by Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus collapsed two weeks ago. By keeping discussions going, Genachowski will at least be able to show Congress that the commission isn’t moving rashly to reclassify broadband transmission as a Title II service, executives said. They said the talks don’t give him an escape hatch for the conundrum he faces in which public-interest groups are unlikely to join the talks and so he may still need to decide whether to promulgate rules or wait for Congress to do so.
Another round of net neutrality talks is under way, this time sponsored by the Information Technology Industry Council. The talks feature some industry companies that did not figure in the recently collapsed round of negotiations at the FCC, including Cisco and Microsoft, as well as such key players in the commission discussions as Verizon, AT&T, NCTA and Skype, industry sources said. The Open Internet Coalition and Google have not participated so far. “Any negotiations over a solution to net neutrality that do not involve representatives of the Internet users and innovators who will be the future Googles and Amazons and Dells will and should be unsuccessful,” said Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president of the Media Access project. It doesn’t appear that many groups favoring net neutrality have joined the talks yet, an industry executive said. The groups seem to be discussing amongst themselves whether to sign on, said the official whose company favors net neutrality. “While we're not involved in these new discussions, we're glad that there is ongoing dialogue,” said FCC spokeswoman Jen Howard. “The FCC started down the road of attempting to use industry negotiations to solve a major public policy issue, and this appears to be a continuation of that method,” Public Knowledge said. “We think the FCC should decide these issues, and quickly, using the public record in already open dockets, and not leave decision-making up to powerful industry players.”
Another round of net neutrality talks is under way, this time sponsored by the Information Technology Industry Council. The talks feature some industry companies that did not figure in the recently collapsed round of negotiations at the FCC, including Cisco and Microsoft, as well as such key players in the commission discussions as Verizon, AT&T, NCTA and Skype, industry sources said. The Open Internet Coalition and Google have not participated so far. “Any negotiations over a solution to net neutrality that do not involve representatives of the Internet users and innovators who will be the future Googles and Amazons and Dells will and should be unsuccessful,” said Andrew Schwartzman, senior vice president of the Media Access project. It doesn’t appear that many groups favoring net neutrality have joined the talks yet, an industry executive said. The groups seem to be discussing amongst themselves whether to sign on, said the official whose company favors net neutrality. “While we're not involved in these new discussions, we're glad that there is ongoing dialogue,” said FCC spokeswoman Jen Howard.
Whether the Verizon Google net neutrality proposal would eliminate FTC authority regarding abuses remains a bone of contention (CD Aug 10 p1). A Verizon spokesman said Tuesday it would not. “The joint Google-Verizon proposal expressly states that generally applicable law that applies to all businesses -- which includes the FTC’s consumer protection laws -- continue to apply,” spokesman Edward McFadden said in a written statement. Media Access Project Senior Vice President Andrew Schwartzman disagreed. “The two pager” on the deal “expressly states that the FCC will have ‘exclusive authority to oversee broadband,'” he said. “That takes away the FTC’s authority. The takeaway is explicit, and the reading of ambiguous language about leaving stuff in place is not."
Whether the Verizon Google net neutrality proposal would eliminate FTC authority regarding abuses remains a bone of contention. A Verizon spokesman said Tuesday it would not. “The joint Google-Verizon proposal expressly states that generally applicable law that applies to all businesses -- which includes the FTC’s consumer protection laws -- continue to apply,” spokesman Edward McFadden said in a written statement. Media Access Project Senior Vice President Andrew Schwartzman disagreed. “The two pager” on the deal “expressly states that the FCC will have ‘exclusive authority to oversee broadband,'” he said. “That takes away the FTC’s authority. The takeaway is explicit, and the reading of ambiguous language about leaving stuff in place is not."
Verizon and Google unveiled Monday the details of their agreement on a proposal for net neutrality legislation, which would exempt wireless from rules except those on disclosure. The principles would create what critics say is an “insurmountable” bar for consumers to lodge complaints, requiring demonstration of actual harm. In another surprise to some observers, the proposed law would eliminate the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection role regarding broadband. The proposal builds on an earlier statement by the two companies on net neutrality rules.
Verizon and Google unveiled Monday the details of their agreement on a proposal for net neutrality legislation, which would exempt wireless from rules except those on disclosure. The principles would create what critics say is an “insurmountable” bar for consumers to lodge complaints, requiring demonstration of actual harm. In another surprise to some observers, the proposed law would eliminate the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection role regarding broadband. The proposal builds on an earlier statement by the two companies on net neutrality rules.
Accord is slightly closer on how wireline ISPs should handle all Internet content and manage real-time communications and streaming services that don’t work properly with latency, officials on both sides of the issue said Monday. A meeting Saturday involving FCC Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus (CD July 30 p1) didn’t produce breakthroughs, they said. The meeting did show that supporters and opponents of net neutrality still have more common ground on the wireline issues of content nondiscrimination and managed services than on wireless, said commission and industry officials.
Negotiations for a possible compromise on broadband reclassification and net neutrality, hosted by FCC Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus, intensified this week, with industry officials at the commission for two additional days of discussions and a call scheduled for late Thursday. What is being described as a “marathon” Saturday meeting is also on tap, set to start at 8 a.m. that day. Hill pressure on the commission to reach a compromise is also growing, with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., telling FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski he’s not pleased with responses to his May 27 letter posing questions about the agency’s work on broadband reclassification.
Negotiations for a possible compromise on broadband reclassification and net neutrality, hosted by FCC Chief of Staff Eddie Lazarus, intensified this week, with industry officials at the commission for two additional days of discussions and a call scheduled for late Thursday. What is being described as a “marathon” Saturday meeting is also on tap, set to start at 8 a.m. that day. Hill pressure on the commission to reach a compromise is also growing, with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., telling FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski he’s not pleased with responses to his May 27 letter posing questions about the agency’s work on broadband reclassification.