TIMELINE AND OVERVIEWOctober 27, 2009
1860
Pacific Telegraph Act guarantees “messagesreceived . . .shall be impartially transmitted in theorder of their reception”.
20th Century
1860
FCC rules cable broadband providers are information services and do not have to share their lines with competing ISPs.
20th Century 2002002002002
Supreme Court Brand X Internet Services ruling upholds FCC 2002 ruling.
FCC Adopts Net Neutrality Principles
JUNE JUNE JUNE JUNE 2005200520052005
MARCH2005
FCC Fines SmallISP for blocking access to VOIP
Canadian ISP blocked access
to pro-union website and
other sites during labor
dispute
JULY2005
AUGAUGAUGAUG2005200520052005
AT&T Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr.November 2005 :
• Pro-Competition/Pro-Innovation
• Key to Internet Success
• ISPs want to be be gatekeepers
- stifle competition and innovation
Arguments for Neutrality
- stifle competition and innovation
- power to discriminate
. Website: http://www.savetheinternet.com
Major Corporate Players: Amazon, earthlink,
eBay, Google, Vonage, Yahoo!
Tech Groups and Thought Leaders: Bill Moyers, Craig Newmark, Harvard BerkmanCenter, Professor Lawrence Lessig, Tech Net
Selected Newspapers: New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury Press
AdvocatesAdvocatesAdvocatesAdvocates
Unions and Major Associations: AAARP, American Civil Liberties Union. American Library Association, Christian Coalition of America. Common Cause, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Environmental Defense Institute, Feminist Majority, Free Press, Gun Owners of America, Moveon.org Civic Action, SEIU
Celebrities: Moby, REM, Alyssa Milano
Arguments Against Neutrality
• Internet has succeeded because of absence of
regulation
• Proposal would reduce incentive for investment in
broadband infrastructure and deployment.
– Invitation to litigation
• Broadband network providers need ability to control • Broadband network providers need ability to control
access to manage bandwidth needed to assure quality
of their own video and other services
– Video content and VoIP will increase demand for bandwidth
– Google, eBay and others want to “shift the financial burden of paying for these upgrades onto the backs of ordinary consumers.” – Mike McCurry – Co-Chairman, Hands Off The Internet.
Website – http://handsoff.org
Major Corporate Players: 3M, AT&T, Comcast, Time-Warner, Verizon
Tech Groups and Thought
Leaders: NetCompetition.org, Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology
Selected Newspapers: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Washington Times
OpponentsOpponentsOpponentsOpponents
Times
Unions and Major Associations: Communications Workers of America, American Conservative Union, National Association of Manufacturers
Net Neutrality Scorecard 2006
Capitol Hill &
Home Court Advantage
Internet v. Telecom/Cable
Campaign Contributions 2004-2006
$8,000,000
$10,000,000
$12,000,000
$0
$2,000,000
$4,000,000
$6,000,000
ebay
Yaho
o
Goo
gle
Amaz
on
SBC
Bell Sou
thVe
rizon
AT&T
Intern
et T
otal
Teleco
m/C
able T
otal
Note: Industry total represents the combined total of the companies listed and not the industry as a whole.
Welcome to the Big Leagues
Warning Signs
• Discrimination– Shaw, a big Canadian cable TV company, is
charging an extra $10 a month to subscribers in order to "enhance" competing Internet telephone services.
– Comcast, Cox block BitTorrent
• Censoring– Time Warner's AOL blocked all emails that
mentioned www.dearaol.com — an advocacy campaign opposing the company's pay-to-send e-mail scheme.
– AT&T censors political comments made by Pearl Jam in concert webcasts
• Anti-Competitive– Cox Communications has been disrupting access
to Craigslist over its broadband Internet network, while Bell South has reportedly disrupted access to MySpace.
• Gate Keeping– ISPs begin to discuss tiered or metered service.
Oct 09: FCC Unanimously
moves to begin process to
formalize Neutrality Principles
and Extend to Mobile Platforms
Oct 09: Calling FCC action a
“government takeover of the
Internet” Sen. McCain
introduces legislation to block
FCC from acting
Supplemental Supplemental
MaterialsMaterialsMaterialsMaterials
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS22444.pdf
http://www.lessig.org/blog/2008/04/testifying_fcc_stanford.html
Bennet Kelley founded the Internet Law Center in 2007 after a decade of activity in many of the hottest internet issues including behavioral targeting, cyber squatting, net neutrality, privacy, spam and spyware. Prior to launching the Internet Law Center, Bennet worked in-house with companies such as ETM Entertainment Network, SpeedyClick.com, Hi-Speed Media and ValueClick.
Bennet is Co-Chair of the California Bar's Cyberspace Committee and has played a leading role in shaping Internet law and policy.
Bennet Kelley
and has played a leading role in shaping Internet law and policy. Bennet testified before the California Senate Business & Professions Committee on its landmark 2003 spam legislation and was praised by the House Energy & Commerce Committee for his contributions to federal spyware legislation. He also launched an initiative through the Cyberspace Committee to develop a cyberspace primer for incoming state legislators.
In addition, Bennet has extensive political experience that includes serving as National Co-Chair of the Democratic National Committee's Saxophone Club (its young professional fundraising and outreach arm) during the Clinton era and being an award winning political columnist for Huffington Post.
The Internet Law Center is dedicated to helping
businesses navigate the evolving legal standards for
today’s digital economy, while also contributing to the
development of the policies of tomorrow. The firm
serves a diverse client base that includes startups and
public companies both online and offline across North
America and Asia.
The professionals of the Internet Law Center possess
years of practical experience as lawyers and
WE KNOW THE INTERNET
Internet Law Center100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 950Santa Monica, CA 90401
years of practical experience as lawyers and
entrepreneurs with internet companies and have played
a leading role in shaping Internet law and policy. This
unprecedented combination of business, legal and
policy experience makes the Internet Law Center
uniquely qualified to provide the professional advice
needed to address emerging issues of internet law in
an uncertain economy.
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