WASHINGTON – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Monday outlined his plan for requiring Internet service providers to keep their networks open to legal content and external devices.
The plan, which is a top priority of Internet advocates who aggressively supported President Barack Obama in his run for the White House, would put into law the FCC’s principles for a nondiscriminatory Internet, The Wall Street Journal reported.
It is also a blow to big phone companies including Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc., and Comcast Corp., which have argued against further regulation of their networks.
If the plan is approved, it also will impose broad new regulations on wireless companies like Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom ADR. Wireless firms, to date, haven’t been subjected to the same kind of open Internet scrutiny as companies providing cable, fiber, or DSL-type connections.
“The rule-making process will enable the Commission to analyze fully the implications of the principles for mobile network architectures and practices – and how, as a practical matter, they can be fairly and appropriately implemented,” Genachowski said.
Also on Monday, several Republican senators attempted to stop Genachowski’s new open Internet proposal from going forward. The top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, on Monday introduced an amendment to a spending bill currently being debated in the Senate that would bar the FCC from using its federal funds to advance the Internet rules.
Genachowski stressed that his proposal is intended to provide “fair rules of the road for companies that control access to the Internet.”
“This is not about government regulation of the Internet,” he said. “We will do as much as we need to do, and no more, to ensure that the Internet remains an unfettered platform for competition, creativity, and entrepreneurial activity.”
Genachowski wants the five-member independent FCC to vote on the proposal at its October meeting, the date of which has not yet been scheduled. It would add to the FCC’s four existing Internet principles a rule saying companies can’t pick and choose among the legal content they serve up, as well as a rule saying providers must disclose how they manage their networks.
“I will propose that the FCC evaluate alleged violations of the non-discrimination principle as they arise, on a case-by-case basis, recognizing that the Internet is an extraordinarily complex and dynamic system,” Genachowski said.
Genachowski announced his plans at the same time a federal appeals court is reviewing the FCC’s citation last year of Comcast for throttling certain high-bandwidth video connections. Comcast and others have argued that the FCC didn’t have legal standing to issue the punishment.
The appeals court’s decision is expected sometime next year. Genachowski hinted at actions that he believes would violate the open Internet principles, such as wireless companies that have blocked Internet-based phone services on their networks. He also noted that some providers have tried to block access to political content.
The FCC is currently investigating why Google Inc.’s (GOOG) Voice Service was rejected by Apple Inc. (AAPL) for the popular iPhone. Apple claims it is still reviewing Google’s new phone management service. Google contends that Apple executives unequivocally declined to include Google Voice in the iPhone application store because the service duplicated an iPhone function.
Google has long been a champion of open Internet principles. Google’s self-described “Chief Internet evangelist” Vint Cerf said Monday that Google “could not be more pleased to see Chairman Genachowski take up this mantle.”
Verizon Vice President of Federal Regulatory Affairs David Young said his company supports the basic tenets of an open Internet and trusts that the FCC will tinker with the rules only when violations are clearly demonstrated.
“I’m pleased to hear that the chairman intends to do only as much as needed and no more,” Young said. “We need to see what are the problems that need to be fixed and what are the examples that require a dramatic change.”
The FCC on Monday also launched a new Web site, OpenInternet.Gov designed for the public to follow the discussion and weigh in.
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