Fergie's Tech Blog

FCC chairman sounds off on Net Neutrality and National Franchises

Marguerite Reardon writes on the C|Net Broadband Blog:

Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sat down with Matthew Flanigan, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association on Monday at the GlobalComm tradeshow in Chicago to discuss several issues currently being debated on Capital Hill, including Network Neutrality and a national video franchise law.

Net Neutrality, or the concept that all traffic on the Internet should be able to traverse the network freely without carriers giving special priority to certain traffic, has been a hot topic for several months. During the question-and-answer session, the FCC chairman said that enacting new laws protecting Net neutrality would be premature. He said that the commission has already adopted a set of principles, which he feels are sufficient to address the issue.

"Consumers need to be able to access content on the Internet unimpeded," he said. "But at the same time, we understand network operators may offer differentiated tiers and differentiated speeds."

He added that the commission hasn't seen any widespread abuse that would justify making new laws.

posted by Fergie @ 6/06/2006 06:56:00 AM