I appeared this afternoon on the inaugural edition of TechCrunch TV to talk about–what else?–Net Neutrality.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/63890987001?isVid=1&isUI=1
Multiple media sources are now reporting that the FCC, contrary to reports from earlier this week, has decided to go ahead with an effort to change the classification of broadband Internet service from a Title I “information service” to a Title II “telecommunications service,” if only to salvage the proposed rulemaking on the open and transparent Internet. (See stories on The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post as well as Ars Technica.)
Those of us who aren’t on the FCC’s official leak list will have to wait with the rest of the rabble to get a look at just how the FCC proposes to effect this radical change in communications law. Will it apply to all broadband Internet–including cable, fiber, DSL, satellite, wireless and broadband over power lines? Will the FCC propose to regulate only as much as needed to get the jurisdiction the D.C. Circuit says it doesn’t have under Title I to implement the NPRM, or will they throw in some additional provisions to achieve other goals–such as the reform of the Universal Service Fund? Will state and local regulators get to share in the fun of telling ISPs how best to run their business?
And, what about Naomi? (A cultural reference only Jim Harper will get.)
The TechCrunch discussion included Richard Bennett of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge and Mike Masnick, CEO of TechDirt. Andrew Keen, author of “The Cult of the Amateur,” moderated.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.