Today, a coalition pushing federal online “neutrality” regulations urged the federal government to place new regulatory restrictions on the 700 MHz spectrum the FCC is planning on auctioning later this year. The following comment may be attributed to Christopher Wolf, co-chair of the Hands Off the Internet coalition (www.HandsOff.org):

“Rather than participate in the recent process set up by the FCC to determine whether there is a need for new regulation, these groups are trying to circumvent that process and advance their regulatory wish lists.

“Those promoting regulation evidently aren’t content with trying to slow down the wired Internet because they’re now trying to tie down the wireless web too. From a practical standpoint, having the federal government regulate wireless Internet systems is every bit as absurd as having it regulate the rest of the Net. Federal regulation is simply incapable of keeping up with changing wireless technologies, which are transforming the wireless web even faster than the wired Internet.”

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, 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.