The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy recently issued a white paper on broadband development entitled, “Internet Traffic Prioritisation: An Overview.”

In response, the following comment may be attributed to Mike McCurry and Christopher Wolf, co-chairs of the Hands Off the Internet coalition (www.HandsOff.org):

“At a time when there is a great deal of attention to broadband access, this report by the OECD has made a noteworthy contribution to the debate over Internet regulation and broadband policy. This international inter-governmental body has now joined the chorus of independent experts pointing out the problems of trying to regulate online ‘neutrality.’ Their conclusion is especially noteworthy since other countries, like the U.S., are actively exploring how to best stimulate more broadband deployment. For Congress, that’s a key issue since neutrality regulations will clearly interfere with deployment of better, faster networks to handle the demands of tomorrow’s Internet.”

Many findings are consistent with the “Hands Off” view that neutrality regulation will interfere with deployment of affordable broadband access and the development of new Internet services. In particular:

“There is little evidence of anti-competitive conduct to date and problems have typically been resolved quickly via market forces or through quick regulatory intervention in markets where they have appeared.”

- Page 5

“From the current state of the discussions it seems premature for governments to become involved at the level of network-to-network traffic exchange and demand neutral packet treatment for content providers.”

- Page 5

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.