Will (and Can) the FCC Regulate the Internet?

James Gattuso / September 21, 2009

Declaring access to the Internet to be like “running water or the light bulb,” FCC chairman Julius Genachowski declared today that it should be regulated. Specifically, he announced that the Commission will be voting next month on a proposal to impose so-called “net neutrality” regulation on Internet service providers such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

Specifically, the plan is to codify four Bush-era “principles” for Internet firms, while adding two more. The first four principles state that consumers are “entitled” to run applications, connect to devices, and access content of their choice, as well as enjoy a choice of providers (all subject to reasonable network management practices). Genachowski would add to these a ban on discriminating among any content or applications, and a mandate that service providers publicly reveal their network management practices.
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