Net Neutrality Postmortem: Cheers and Jeers - Page 2

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Telecom and cable firms weigh in

Several telecom and cable firms responded to yesterday's FCC action with guarded statements supportive of Genachowski's goal of a free and open Internet, but expressing reservations about imposing burdensome and unnecessary regulations on the industry.

The reaction of Kyle McSlarrow, the president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and a longtime opponent of Net neutrality, was typical.

"To be clear, we regard this as a debate about means, not ends; we support a free and open Internet," McSlarrow said. "However, we continue to believe the broadband marketplace is an unparalleled American success story and already offers consumers an open Internet experience."

Among Internet companies, none has been a more prominent supporter of the Net neutrality rule-making than Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

"The Internet was built and has thrived as an open platform, where individuals and entrepreneurs -- not network owners -- can connect and interact, choose marketplace winners and losers, and create new services and content on a level playing field. No one seems to disagree with that fundamental proposition," Richard Whitt, Google's Washington media and telecom counsel, wrote in a blog post following yesterday's meeting.

"This new proceeding is aimed at opening a national dialogue on how best to protect that unique environment. For our part, we fully support the adoption of 'rules of the road' to ensure that the broadband on-ramps to the Net remain open and robust."

On the eve of the FCC's meeting, the chief executives of Google and Verizon Wireless penned a joint blog post that seemed aimed at ratcheting down the rhetoric that has attended the debate and accentuating their points of agreement.

No such accord was to be found among the advocacy groups, who have been some of the louder voices in the argument.

"The promise made yesterday by the FCC -- to only apply neutrality principles to the infrastructure layer of the Net -- is hollow and will ultimately prove unenforceable," Berin Szoka, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, wrote in a blog post. "The reality is that regulation always spreads. The march of regulation can sometimes be glacial, but it is, sadly, almost inevitable: Regulatory regimes grow but almost never contract."

Conversely, the FCC's action was heralded by the groups that have become the standard-bearers for the Net neutrality crusade.

Public Knowledge said it was "delighted" with the FCC's action. Free Press called the day "historic." The Open Internet Coalition, which counts firms like Google and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) as members, said the vote had proven that the "heavy-handed lobbying that attempted to obfuscate this issue" was "counterproductive."

So the debate goes on. The FCC set a deadline of Jan. 14 for preliminary comments on the proposed rules, and March 5 for reply comments.