Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated

The subject of this book - whether or not to extend traditional telecommunications regulation to high-speed or "broadband" access to the Internet - is perhaps the most important issue now facing the Federal Communications Commission. The issue is also very contentious, with influential economic interests as well as academics on both sides of the question. Content providers - Microsoft and Amazon, for instance - argue that broadband providers should be treated as common carriers, required to transmit all content in a nondiscriminatory way. The broadband providers - the telephone and cable companies - argue that no bottleneck monopoly exists to justify such regulation and that, if imposed, it would stifle development of the Internet.

This volume consists of recently updated papers that were originally presented at a June 2003 conference held by the Progress and Freedom Foundation. The authors are among the top researchers in the field of telecommunications research.

Thomas M. Lenard is Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on electricity, antitrust, privacy, and other regulatory issues. Lenard received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. from Brown University.

Randolph J. May is Senior Fellow and Director of Communications Policy Studies at the Progress & Freedom Foundation. In addition to writing a regular column for Legal Times, he has published more than fifty articles and essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from communications to law to constitutional theory. May received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from Duke Law School.

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The subject of this book whether or not to extend traditional telecommunications regulation to high-speed or "broadband" access to the Internet is perhaps the most important issue now facing the Federal Communications Commission. The issue is also very contentious, with influential economic interests as well as academics on both sides of the question. Content providers Microsoft and Amazon, for instance argue that broadband providers should be treated as common carriers, required to transmit all content in a nondiscriminatory way. The broadband providers the telephone and cable companies argue that no bottleneck monopoly exists to justify such regulation and that, if imposed, it would stifle development of the Internet.

This volume consists of recently updated papers that were originally presented at a June 2003 conference held by the Progress and Freedom Foundation. The authors are among the top researchers in the field of telecommunications research.

Thomas M. Lenard is Vice President for Research and Senior Fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on electricity, antitrust, privacy, and other regulatory issues. Lenard received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and his Ph.D. from Brown University.

Randolph J. May is Senior Fellow and Director of Communications Policy Studies at the Progress & Freedom Foundation. In addition to writing a regular column for Legal Times, he has published more than fifty articles and essays on a wide variety of topics ranging from communications to law to constitutional theory. May received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from Duke Law School.

Résumé
Randolph J. May and Thomas M. Lenard The Progress & Freedom Foundation Most of the papers in this book were originally presented at a June 2003 Progress & Freedom Foundation conference entitled, "Net Neutrality or Net Neutering: Should Broadband Internet Services Be Regulated. " As we now publish the suitably updated collection of papers, along with two others, the title remains entirely appropriate. For while calls to mandate rights of access to the broadband networks of cable operators, telephone companies, and other facilities-based broadband providers might ebb and flow, as we write this, the tide is running high. So persistent are calls for mandatory network access rights in the communications world that a book that explores the vari­ ous facets of Net Neutrality is not likely to be soon outdated. The Policy Statement released by the Federal Communications Commis­ sion in September 2005 in its long-running proceedings to establish an ap­ propriate regulatory framework for cable operator and telephone compa- provided broadband services describes the bundle of "rights" commonly un­ derstood to be encompassed under the rubric of Net Neutrality: (1) consum­ ers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice; (2) con­ sumers are entitled to run applications and services of their choice; (3) consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; and (4) consumers are entitled to competition among net­ work providers, application and services providers, and content providers.

Contenu
Distribution, Vertical Integration and the Net Neutrality Debate.- Network Neutrality and Competition Policy: A Complex Relationship.- Are Dumb Pipe Mandates Smart Public Policy? Vertical Integration, Net Neutrality, and the Network Layers Model.- The Importance of Open Networks in Sustaining the Digital Revolution.- Local Broadband Access: Primum Non Nocere or Primum Processi? A Property Rights Approach.- Open Access Arguments: Why Confidence is Misplaced.