(Washington, DC) Hands Off the Internet, a nationwide coalition of businesses and people united in supporting the growth of the Internet for the benefit of consumers, today provided the Federal Communications Commission with the results of its study showing the reasons why adoption of new net neutrality regulations would hinder development of the next generation Internet, and would harm consumers. Hands Off, which examined in depth the legal, regulatory, economic, business and consumer protection issues relating to the issue of so-called “net neutrality”, provided the results of its study in its submission to the Commission in connection with the FCC’s inquiry into broadband market practices.
“Current regulation and consumer protection laws are sufficient to address any potential harms, which have been greatly exaggerated by those advocating net neutrality regulation,” the filing notes, adding, “The FCC already has the authority and jurisdiction it requires to intervene if in the future a broadband provider engages in a practice that is deemed harmful to consumers or in anyway adversely impacts net neutrality.
Hands Off also explained to the Commission why it is important to consider the context in which the net neutrality issue arises. The Hands Off submission explains that broadband capacity, especially in connections to consumers at their homes, must be greatly increased to handle the massive increase in data traffic (due in large part to video applications like YouTube). As explained in the FCC filing, tiered services and new business arrangements by broadband access providers will not result in content discrimination or service degradation, but will spread the cost of the new build-out so that consumers will not be saddled with the entire cost. Additionally, the submission shows that prominent economists agree that the unintended consequences of premature regulation could well result in a slowdown in broadband deployment and higher costs for consumers.
The Hands Off submission to the FCC was prepared by Christopher Wolf, a partner in the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP and co-chair of the Hands Off the Internet Coalition with Mike McCurry.
The Hands Off the Internet coalition is a Washington, DC-based coalition of companies and nonprofit organizations that believes the Internet has flourished because government has not tried to regulate it. Members include Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, 3M, the National Association of Manufacturers, FiberControl, and Cinergy Communications. Nonprofit members include Citizens Against Government Waste, the American Conservative Union and the National Black Chamber of Commerce.
