It's official: the path has been cleared for Tuesday's historic vote at the Federal Communications Commission approving sweeping new "network neutrality" rules designed to ensure that the Internet remains an open platform that doesn't favor dominant telecommunications and cable companies.
Democratic FCC regulators Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn plan to "concur" on the proposal, meaning they support adoption but don't agree with every detail. Their backing gives FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski the three votes he needs on the five-member commission for passage.
Copps and Clyburn have been fighting for stronger provisions to better protect consumers and smaller competitors. Critics of the regulatory initiative, including the agency's two GOP members, dismiss it as unnecessary government intervention that seeks to correct marketplace problems that do not exist.
But Free Press, Public Knowledge and other advocacy groups that have demanded changes in advance of the vote voiced concerns that some provisions are too weak to protect consumers and bar anticompetitive conduct.
Free Press dismissed the latest compromise as "fake" net neutrality. "We are deeply disappointed that this commission appears to be moving forward with deeply flawed rules that don't live up to the promises of the president or the FCC chairman to protect the free and open Internet," said spokesman Craig Aaron. "These rules appear to be flush with giant loopholes, and the FCC chairman seems far more concerned with winning the endorsement of AT&T and the cable lobbyists than with listening to the millions of Americans who have pleaded with him to fix his proposal."
Echoing those concerns was Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn, who said the latest iteration of the plan falls "far short" of what could have been. "Instead of a rule that would protect everyone, from consumers to applications developers from predatory practices of telephone and cable companies, the commission settled for much less," she wrote. "Consumers deserved better. The FCC should have fought for consumers, not put the burden on them to fight for their rights."
Parul Desai, policy council for Consumers Union, praised the FCC for taking action, but said her group would continue to push for stricter controls. "From what we know, we would prefer that the commission provide stronger protections for wireless Internet users in addition to wireline users, as more Americans use smartphones and other wireless devices to surf the web," Desai said in a statement.
"If these rules are actually going to protect consumers, the commission must be vigilant in monitoring Internet service providers to make sure they don't try to circumvent the rules and take unfair advantage of the FCC's definition of what constitutes broadband service," she added.
Clyburn's written statement:
"The open Internet is a crucial American marketplace, and I believe that it is appropriate
for the FCC to safeguard it by adopting an Order that will establish clear rules to protect
consumers' access. The Commission has worked tirelessly to offer a set of guidelines that, while not as strong as they could be, will nonetheless protect consumers as they explore, learn, and innovate online. As such, I plan to vote to approve in part and concur in part the Open Internet Order during the FCC's open meeting tomorrow.
"I appreciate the hard work of my colleagues, and I am especially grateful for the
commitment and dedication of Commissioner Copps, who has worked many years on behalf of consumers to ensure an open Internet. I also want to thank the many stakeholders who have worked diligently on these issues and took the time to call, write, and visit me to convey their concerns. I am also grateful to Chairman Genachowski, his staff, and the many others at the Commission who worked around-the-clock on this proceeding.
"As a Commissioner whose task is to safeguard consumers and the public interest, I will
continue to watch the growth of the Internet and will applaud industry advances and milestones. I will also seek out and facilitate any collaboration between myself, my colleagues, corporate stakeholders, and public interest representatives, as there can be no better path forward than that which is achieved through consensus."
Copps' written statement:
"These past three weeks have been devoted on my part to intensive discussions about ensuring the continued openness of the Internet and putting consumers, not Big Phone and Big Cable, in maximum control of their online experiences. I have been fighting for nearly a decade to make sure the Internet doesn't travel down the same road of special interest consolidation and gate-keeper control that other media and telecommunications industries--radio, television, film and cable--have traveled. What an historic tragedy it would be to let that fate befall the dynamism of the Internet.
The item we will vote on tomorrow is not the one I would have crafted. But I believe we have been able to make the current iteration better than what was originally circulated. If vigilantly and vigorously implemented by the Commission--and if upheld by the courts--it could represent an important milestone in the ongoing struggle to safeguard the awesome opportunity-creating power of the open Internet. While I cannot vote wholeheartedly to approve the item, I will not block it by voting against it. I instead plan to concur so that we may move forward. I do thank the Chairman for his engagement, and I owe a special debt of gratitude to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for her thoughtful and creative work to improve this item."
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