Regulation Is Needed For Internet Service Providers

On April 6, 2010 the District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not have the authority to regulate how internet service providers manage Web traffic to their customers. This leaves the U.S. with no internet regulator. What are the consequences of the U.S. Court of Appeals decision regarding the FCC as companies such as market leaders Comcast, Verizon, and Google are transcending traditional industry models and are overlapping from provider to content originator to "gatekeeper"?  Consider this, if net neutrality is no longer an accepted policy what happens if Comcast purchases NBC (as currently rumored) and slows down or blocks its internet customers' access to ABC or CBS?  What happens to Google Voice (Google's version of VOIP – voice over internet protocol) if Verizon decides it cannot be supported by the current billing structure if users place VOIP calls from Google Voice. Google Voice is rumored to be a browser based service which means it would be able to be used to place phone calls on any web enabled smart phone, much less the computers of Verizon's home phone subscribers.   In this scenario would Verizon, as the provider, be permitted to block Google?  Will Congress step in to spell out a regulator for the internet?  Is it possible that we need Congress to name a regulatory body to insure the free access to information?  As this dilemma evolves the world is watching.   Depending on how and to what extent the U.S. decides to regulate the Web moving forward, other countries may be able to further justify their own state interference.  Some argue that the market will regulate itself. But if we allow companies to successful move forward with the argument that the Web is not subject to open-access regulation we will that much harder to change the interpretation in the future.

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Aubrey Stewart is a technology communications consultant specializing in Wholesale VOIP and Call Center Solutions.