A federal appeals court this week sided with Comcast, finding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacked the statutory authority to force broadband companies to allow all content providers non-discriminatory access to their networks.
This comes at the tail end of a 2008 rebuke of the FCC to Comcast for slowing down movies and TV shows (among other things) shared via BitTorrent, often in violation of copyright laws.
This sets an unfortunate example, given that it more or less opens the door wide for also imposing similar speed bumps and road blocks against other content providers, such as Google, in favor of their own or affiliated content that covers similar turf.
Not only can this result in skewed competition but also in self-appointed censorship.
On the other hand, there is a good chance that government involvement might overshoot past the target. NPR’s National Review in this respect argues that “the FCC’s authority to reclassify broadband to suit its desires is also open to legal challenge. As a result, we are sure to hear louder calls for Congress to regulate the Internet or to grant the FCC the explicit authority to do so. These calls should be ignored. The Internet has thrived in the absence of homogenizing federal regulations, and this organic development should be allowed to continue so long as competition can act as a check on anti-consumer practices. If the broadband market becomes insufficiently competitive, then — as Apple CEO Steve Jobs might say — there’s an app for that: The United States has antitrust laws for regulating competition and monopolistic access. There is no need to develop a special set of rules just for broadband companies.”
