Singularity Law

The Federal Communications Commission’s loss in recent Comcast decision has cast doubt on whether the FCC has the authority to implement net neutrality regulations applicable to ISPs. While Congress certainly has the ability to broaden the FCC’s charter to include regulating the Internet, Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they are not willing to do so.

As a result, the Commission is looking for ways to leverage its existing powers to encompass net neutrality regulations. The Commission plans to draft more specific rules governing Internet companies is the result of the Comcast decision last month, where the D.C. Circuit panel agreed with ComCast that the agency had overstepped its explicit legal bounds when it reprimanded Comcast for throttling Internet access.

To address legal ambiguity created by the court’s decision, Chairman Julius Genachowski has announced that he will seek a new approach to Internet regulation — regulating Internet providers with a number of FCC rules that already govern phone companies. The telcos and cable companies, not surprisingly, are bitterly opposed to any regulation of their Internet offerings and are filling the coffers of their supporters in Congress, as well as preparing for court challenges to any new FCC regulations.

This is a defining moment in the growth of the Internet in the United States. Other countries have seen the growth of their digital economies stymied by telcos and other providers who charge high access fees, limit bandwidth and play favorites among websites and e-commerce providers. One reason that our digital economy has grown as quickly and as large as it has is because ISPs traditionally have provided access at a reasonable price to all comers. Now these entities are trying to change the rule of the game to the disadvantage of both consumers and online vendors. The government is the only entity that can protect consumers from those who put short-term profits over the good of the nation and its economy.