It has been...
Without a "net neutrality" problem. Strangely however, with every passing “no-problem” day, the pro-regulation crowd becomes ever more shrill and ever more insistent that if government doesn’t regulate, it will be “the end of the Internet as we know it”!
Take Action and Stop the Takeover
The Federal Communications Commission is moving ahead with proposed "Open Internet" rules, which would give federal regulators vast new powers, and ultimately lead to government control of the Internet.
Join The Internet Freedom Coalition
The Internet has become a powerful communications and economic force because it has been free from government interference. To make sure the power and promise of the Internet continues, we need to keep it free of government interference.
Notable Quotes
Visit this page to view notable quotes regarding this issue from a variety of industry experts as well as well known news outlets and authorities.
Click the link below to get started, and please share this resource with friends and family.
FCC nominee Tom Wheeler to face Senate committee
by Hayley Tsukayama
Washington Post
Tom Wheeler, President Obama’s nominee for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is set to speak before the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday for his nominations hearing.
A former tech and telecom lobbyist and venture capitalist, Wheeler will focus on his years of experience in the industry to illustrate his knowledge and ability to read shifting trends in the technology space, according to written testimony obtained by The Washington Post ahead of the hearing. But Wheeler may face questions about how he will transition from his role as industry advocate to regulator.
Broadcast Censorship is Unconstitutional & Unnecessary, Diverse Coalition Tells FCC
by Berin Szoka
TechFreedom
A philosophically diverse coalition of technology policy organizations filed FCC comments today urging the agency to stop censoring broadcast content for “indecency.” The coalition–TechFreedom, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy & Technology, and Public Knowledge–called the FCC’s broadcast indecency policies “a relic of a bygone era” that are unconstitutional and unnecessary in the modern world. Specifically, the comments argue that the world has changed so fundamentally since 1978, when the Supreme Court upheld indecency censorship in FCC v Pacifica, that the courts will eventually strike down whatever revised regulations the FCC might issue.
The Ten Most Important Questions for Obama’s Nominee to Chair FCC
Today, the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing (at 2:30 EDT) on President Obama’s nomination of venture capitalist Tom Wheeler as FCC Chairman (hashtag: #FCC). As we progress into an increasingly digital economy, the FCC will play a central role in determining the size and scope of government in our lives. Here are the top ten questions Senators should ask Wheeler:
Bad news from Obama’s memo on federal spectrum
by Brent Skorup
Technology Liberation Front
A few days ago, the big news in the telecom world was that President Obama again ordered federal agencies to share and sell their spectrum to expand commercial mobile broadband use. This effort is premised on the fact that agencies use their gifted airwaves poorly while demand for mobile broadband is surging. While the presidential memorandum half-heartedly supports clearing out agencies from some bands and selling it off, the focus of the memo is shared access, whereby federal agencies agree to allow non-federal users to use the same spectrum bands with non-interfering technologies.
Broadband for America Hill Briefing
by Tom Fletcher
Digital Liberty
Broadband for America hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill this week covering a wide variety of broadband topics. Taking part in the discussion was Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr., Broadband for America Co-Chair; Dr. Sanjay Udani, Executive Director of Internet & Technology Policy, Verizon; Kevin McElearney, Senior Vice President of Network Engineering, Comcast Cable; and Eric Voit, Director of Technology Architecture, Cisco.
Harold Ford Jr. kicked off the panel citing a Wall Street Journal article, detailing the decline of entrepreneurship in the United States, and warned the audience that the country cannot be complacent and that entrepreneurship remains the backbone of the US economy.
The FCC’s Incentive Auction: KISS It
by Randolph J. May
Free State Foundation
There is widespread agreement that the proposed spectrum “incentive auction” the Federal Communications Commission plans to conduct – hopefully! – in 2014 is one of the most important action items, if not the most important action item, on the agency’s agenda. And there is an equally widespread consensus that the auction necessarily will be the most complex spectrum auction ever conducted by the FCC in light of its two-sided offering and bidding nature. Broadcasters will have an opportunity to offer spectrum for bid in a so-called “reverse auction,” and then wireless companies facing what the FCC itself has described as a “spectrum crunch” will Read More…
Chevron Deference and Regulatory Reform
by Randolph J. May
Free State Foundation
There may be disagreement among scholars concerning the soundness of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in its May 20 City of Arlington v. FCC opinion. Nevertheless, many agree that the Court’s decision likely will give federal agencies somewhat more leeway in exercising administrative authority because courts are likely to accord the agencies’ actions a broader scope of deference upon judicial review.
What Does It Mean to “Have a Conversation” about a New Technology?
by Adam Thierer
Technology Liberation Front
My colleague Eli Dourado brought to my attention this XKCD comic and when tweeting it out yesterday he made the comment that “Half of tech policy is dealing with these people”: Read More…
For Independent Agencies, SEC Regulatory Accountability Bill is an Act to Follow
by Seth L. Cooper
Free State Foundation
Everyone needs a reality checks sometimes, even “the experts.” When so-called expert independent agencies consider regulating areas of our economy, shouldn’t they check to make sure new regulations won’t cause more economic harm than good? Isn’t it worth double-checking the results once new regulations are in place?
For independent agencies, cost-benefit analysis should provide that reality check. And post-adoption “look back” assessments should serve as a double check. This is the basic approach of the SEC Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 1062). It’s an economic-minded reform bill scheduled for consideration soon on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
W. Patrick McCray on visioneers
by Jerry Brito
Surprisingly Free
W. Patrick McCray, author of The Visioneers: How a Group of Elite Scientists Pursued Space Colonies, Nanotechnologies, and a Limitless Future, tells the story of these modern utopians who predicted that their technologies could transform society as humans mastered the ability to create new worlds.
IFC Reply Comments to FCC: Title II Reclassification Unjustified, Unnecessary
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of Framework for Broadband Internet Service
GN Docket No. 10-127
FCC Docket No. 10-114
Reply Comments
of the Undersigned Members of the
INTERNET FREEDOM COALITION
Introduction
The Commission is being asked by Free Press and other organizations to pursue a radical course of action – reclassifying information services as telecommunications services in order to regulate the Internet for the first time. We write to urge the Commission to keep the Internet free of new government regulation and taxation and to refrain from rushing into such a potentially disastrous course of action.
Analysts are only beginning to grasp the extent of the disruptive and destructive consequences of regulating the Internet under Title II of the Communications Act, and the Commission is in no position to predict the outcome, much less assure Americans it will be positive. Americans have heard political leaders admit that we will not know the full extent or nature of massive health care and financial services regulations until after the underlying legislation has been passed. Now, Americans are facing the imposition of an even lesser-understood regulatory regime over the Internet without the benefit of any legislative process whatsoever.
IFC Supplemental Reply Comments: FCC Lacks Authority, Justification for Reclassifying Internet as Title II Service
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Preserving the Open Internet GN Docket No. 09-191
Broadband Industry Practices WC Docket No. 07-52
Supplemental Reply Comments of the Internet Freedom Coalition
Just two days prior to the Commission’s deadline for reply comments regarding the above Notice of Proposed Rulemakings, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Comcast v. FCC that the Commission has no authority to enact Net Neutrality rules. The deadline for comments was extended, particularly to facilitate discussion of other methods of promulgating Net Neutrality regulations.
Beginning with comments on the National Broadband Plan filed by Public Knowledge in January, a small number of organizations have since proposed classifying the Internet as a Title II common carrier service as a way of asserting the Commission’s authority to enact Net Neutrality regulations. The Internet Freedom Coalition respectfully submits these reply comments in strong opposition to any effort to reclassify the Internet as a Title II service.
IFC Reply Comments to FCC: Refuting Free Press’ Arguments for Regulating the Internet
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Preserving the Open Internet GN Docket No. 09-191
Broadband Industry Practices WC Docket No. 07-52
Reply Comments of the Internet Freedom Coalition
The following comments are submitted by the undersigned members of the Internet Freedom Coalition. They are submitted in reply to comments filed by proponents of Network Neutrality regulations, and are attributable only to the signatories.
Internet Freedom Coalition Comments to the FCC, Opposing Network Neutrality Regulations
Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of
Preserving the Open Internet, GN Docket No. 09-191
Broadband Industry Practices WC Docket No. 07–52; FCC 09–93
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Comments of the Internet Freedom Coalition
Introduction
The Internet Freedom Coalition is an ad hoc coalition of organizations and individuals committed to the continued growth and improvement of the Internet, who believe regulations and taxes are harmful to those ends. The Internet Freedom Coalition believes that a free and open Internet is beneficial, but argues that regulatory intervention in the well-functioning marketplace that has thus far produced a vast, free and open network would unnecessarily limit the current and future supply of bandwidth, and would harm both producers and consumers. These comments are attributable only to the individual signatories.
