Industry Reacts to White House Net Neutrality Push
Nov 10, 2014, 12:56 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Following the White House's request to reclassify the internet as a utility, a number of industry organizations have fielded responses. First to respond was FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Wheeler "welcomed" Obama's comments and said the agency would add them to the existing public discourse regarding the subject. He stopped well short of saying the agency would adopt such measures. "The more deeply we examined the issues around the various legal options, the more it has become plain that there is more work to do. The approaches before us raise substantive legal questions. We found we would need more time to examine these to ensure that whatever approach is taken, it can withstand any legal challenges it may face," said Wheeler. The CTIA Wireless Association, which lobbies for the wireless industry's interests in Washington, disagreed with Obama's proposal in the strongest terms. "Imposing antiquated common carrier regulation on the vibrant mobile wireless ecosystem would be a gross overreaction that would impose inappropriate regulation on a dynamic industry and would threaten mobile providers' ability to invest and innovate, all to the detriment of consumers. CTIA strongly opposes such an approach," wrote CTIA President Meredith Atwell Baker. AT&T went a step further and threatened legal action. "Today's announcement by the White House, if acted upon by the FCC, would be a mistake that will do tremendous harm to the Internet and to U.S. national interests. If the FCC puts such rules in place, we would expect to participate in a legal challenge to such action," said Jim Cicconi, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President, External & Legislative Affairs. Verizon Wireless issued a statement similar to AT&T's. "Reclassification under Title II, which for the first time would apply 1930s-era utility regulation to the internet, would be a radical reversal of course that would in and of itself threaten great harm to an open internet, competition and innovation. That course will likely also face strong legal challenges and would likely not stand up in court," said the company in a post on its public policy blog.
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Comments
You poor confused capitalists
If a man is in decent health and wants to stay healthy, you recommend that he run for three miles every day and eat certain foods. But if that same man sits on his ass getting fat every day and then gets the flu, you don't recommend that he run three miles every day and eat the same foods. Instead, you recommend that he stay in the bed, drink lots of fluids, and take flu medication.
And this is where we are with telecom companies. We are past the point of saying to the government...
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2nd Free Markets are off the table? Most definitely not. Try as they might, socialists will never be able to kill a free market. They may manipulate it. They may try to control it...
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Gov creates the problem, propagandizes a reaction, and gives us a solution...always at the cost of freedom.
Sorry. It doesnt matter how big the pr...
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Forget you At&t
Because your current business plan doesn't already accomplish this At&t&? Go F yourself At&t you stinkin Monopoly.
The Internet should be deemed a Utility and be treated that way.
The purpose of net neutrality is to preserve the open content of the internet. As usual, AT&T conducts its...
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