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+ FollowCommunications Giants Collaborate to Preserve An Open Internet
Google and Verizon Monday announced their joint proposal “to preserve the open Internet and the vibrant and innovative markets it supports, to protect consumers, and to promote continued investment in broadband access.” This announcement comes on the heels of months of protracted debate over the issue of “net neutrality,” a series of principles that would enable the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) to regulate the conduct of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in providing access to and maintaining online environments.
Traditionally, the two communications companies have maintained disparate positions on the proper place for Internet regulation in the American marketplace. However, this collaboration could mark the beginning of reduced hostilities among Internet players in an effort to maintain optimal accessibility and functioning of the Internet for both consumers and businesses – small and large – alike. According to Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt and Ivan Seidenberg,CEO of Verizon, the two companies “have searched for workable public policies that serve consumer interests and create a climate for investment and innovation” with this compromise proposal.
The basic tenets of the proposal closely mirror the principles that the FCC laid out as the foundation for its net neutrality regime. Notably,
Consumer Protections. A broadband Internet access service provider would be prohibited from preventing consumers from—
(1) sending and receiving lawful content of their choice;
(2) running lawful applications and using lawful services of their choice; and
(3) connecting their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network or service, facilitate theft of service, or harm other users of the service.
Non-Discrimination Requirement. In providing broadband Internet access service, a provider would be prohibited from engaging in undue discrimination against any lawful Internet content, application, or service in a manner that causes meaningful harm to competition or to consumers.
Transparency. Providers of broadband Internet access service would be required to disclose accurate and relevant information in plain language about the characteristics and capabilities of their offerings, their broadband network management, and other practices necessary for consumers and other users to make informed choices.
Network Management. Broadband Internet access service providers would be permitted to engage in reasonable network management….to manage the daily operation of its network.
The full text of the two-page Verizon-Google Legislative Framework Proposal can be found here.
The proposal also allows ISPs to offer additional and differentiated services apart from broadband access service, provided that the FCC annually assess the impact that any such services have on basic Internet access.
From the enforcement standpoint, the framework applies the transparency provision to all carriers, including wireless carriers. To dissuade practices detrimental to consumers, the FCC would adjudicate disputes regarding non-discrimination and network management on a case-by-case basis.
To date, three cases of questionable network management practices have been documented. Most recently, the D.C. Circuit took up the issue of the FCC’s regulatory authority over the conduct of broadband service providers in Comcast v. FCC. Though the Court held that the FCC did not have jurisdiction to regulate ISPs, the joint proposal by Verizon and Google provides that “[t]he FCC would have exclusive authority to oversee broadband Internet access service, but would not have any authority over Internet software applications, content or services. Regulatory authorities would not be permitted to regulate broadband Internet access service.”
While critics of this proposal question the impact that the framework could have on Internet function and pricing, others see this collaborative effort as a step in the right direction. Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, “applauds the effort Google and Verizon have made to find common ground and provide Congress with a starting point for updating regulatory policy for a rapidly evolving Internet.” Brian Dietz of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association noted that, “the Google-Verizon announcement shows that it is possible for compromise and that we can reach a constructive solution.”
As Congress prepares to engage in a wholesale re-write of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, this joint legislative proposal could serve as a foundation for future Internet legislation.
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