IPI
Published: 07-29-08
DALLAS TX: Without even a relevant rule in place the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is apparently about to assert the authority to dictate how a private broadband company exercises control over its network. Even if the FCC believes it could have such government control it should forebear in this case says the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) regarding reports that the Commission is about to take action on Comcast’s network management practices.
“Those who favor government control of technology and our lives notched a significant victory – they have finally managed to gain the beginnings of real regulatory control over the Internet” said Bartlett Cleland director of the IPI Center for Technology Freedom.
“Certainly this will be part of the legacy of the Bush administration—the administration that had government seize control of and regulate the Internet” said Cleland.
Cleland says the issue is not simply a debate about the reach of the FCC but about government intrusion and control over private property. In comments filed with the FCC in February of this year IPI stated that private network companies must have the liberty to manage their networks and experiment with their own business models and no regulatory prohibition against network management practices should be considered.
“This intrusion into the network management practices of a broadband provider may prove to be one of the worst mistakes in communications policy history” he said. “The notion that the FCC government should have any authority to punish broadband companies without a rule in place is frightening.”
Furthermore those who demand the government’s regulation of broadband network management are ignoring both the reality of economics and the reality of network operation and management.
“Private property is not and should not be operated for the good of anyone other than the owners— organizations that do not satisfy their customers will lose in the marketplace as others move in to take advantage of the opportunity” said Cleland.
“For too long our government—and those who favor government intrusion and hegemony--have rationalized invasive control of our communications systems including now government dictated rules on systems operations and acceptable use of others property” said Cleland. “It is time to get real and get government—and especially this activist FCC—out of our innovation our property and our lives.”
The Institute for Policy Innovation is an independent non-profit public policy organization based in Dallas Texas. Experts are available for interview by contacting Erin Humiston at (972) 874-5139 or erin@ipi.org.
