All eyes have been on the House Commerce Committee the past few days, as reports have floated about regarding a draft telecom reform bill being hammered out by the members. Committee chairman Joe Barton mooted two earlier proposals last year, both of which attempted to comprehensively reform telecom laws. Both–especially the first–were stillborn–because of complaints that they imposed new regulation, rather than just free up this now-competitive market.
This time around, Barton has tried a more targeted approach–instead of all-inclusive reform, the legislation would be focused on eliminating local cable television franchise regulations, which have been slowing the advent of competition in cable TV. A smart move–a rifleshot reform, and one that that would significantly help consumers.
But it now looks like even this bill is being bogged down with new regulation. Although no copy of the proposed bill is yet public, reports are that the plan would keep the old regulations in place for a some time for existing cable firms, and even impose new price controls on them.
Worst of all, however, there are indications that “net neutrality” regulations may be soldered on to this bill. Such regulation–which would prohibit network owners from differentiating among different types of content–would place the FCC squarely in the business of regulating the Internet. (see here and here for more about problems with net neutrality rules).
Such provisions would turn Barton’s original deregulatory intent on its head. Rather than eliminating obsolete and unneeded regulations of telecommunications, the bill would introduce new and equally unneeded regulations on the Internet. Lawmaking may be like sausage-making, but such a result would be particularly hard to digest.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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