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PRESS RELEASE January 17, 2015
Contact: Randolph J. May at 202-285-9926 or 301-984-8253
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The Internet Openness Discussion Draft Represents an Important Step Forward
Bill Could Be Improved Further By Requiring a Specific Showing of Consumer Harm and Market Failure in Adjudicating Complaints
ROCKVILLE, MD - Randolph May, President of the Free State Foundation, issued the following statement in response to the release of the Discussion Draft bill that would grant the Federal Communications Commission authority to regulate certain practices of broadband Internet providers. The Discussion Draft was released by Senator John Thune and Representative Fred Upton, the Chairmen of the Senate and House Commerce Committees.
"I commend the efforts of Senator Thune and Chairman Upton and their colleagues in putting together the Discussion Draft. While taking steps to ensure Internet openness, the bill also contains important limitations on the FCC's authority, such as preventing the agency from classifying Internet providers as public utility-like common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act or invoking Section 706 as a basis for otherwise regulating them. And the requirement that Internet openness obligations be enforced through adjudication of specific complaints is an important limitation as well.
I would prefer not to see an absolute ban on so-called 'paid prioritization' because there may be limited instances in which that practice would actually benefit consumers and even new Internet service provider competitors that are trying to gain a foothold in the ISP market by providing novel or niche services. Thus, it would be preferable for the bill to require a showing of consumer harm and market failure in the adjudication of a specific complaint before paid prioritization (or any other ISP practice) is banned outright for all time.
On the whole, the draft bill represents an important step forward in an attempt to resolve the long-standing 'net neutrality' controversy. As someone who has studied administrative law and separation of powers for over three decades, and who has served at the FCC as Associate General Counsel, I believe that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler should defer further agency action on net neutrality, at least for a few months, while giving Congress an opportunity to work its will."
Randolph J. May, President of the Free State Foundation, is a former FCC Associate General Counsel and a former Chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. Mr. May is a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States, and a Fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration.
Mr. May is a nationally recognized expert in communications law, Internet law and policy, and administrative law and regulatory practice. He is the author of more than 150 scholarly articles and essays on communications law and policy, administrative law, and constitutional law. Most recently, Mr. May is the editor of the new book, Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years. He is the author of A Call for a Radical New Communications Policy: Proposals for Free Market Reform. And he is the editor of the book, New Directions in Communications Policy and co-editor of other two books on communications law and policy: Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated? and Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform.
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The Free State Foundation
P. O. Box 60680
Potomac, MD 20859
Tel: 301-984-8253
Fax: 301-299-5007
www.freestatefoundation.org
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