The FCC should determine “the necessary substantive contours”...

The FCC should determine “the necessary substantive contours” of new net neutrality rules before deciding what Communications Act section to justify them under, longtime net neutrality proponent Marvin Ammori told Philip Verveer, senior counselor to Chairman Tom Wheeler, in a meeting Friday (http://bit.ly/1rAcEDM). A New America Foundation fellow, Ammori said his views expressed were “purely personal.” Beginning with Section 706’s “limitations” and then “crafting a rule that fits those limitations is putting the cart before the horse,” Ammori said. “At best, 706-first thinking could result in the appropriate network neutrality rule only by accident. At worst, this thinking could lead to the adoption of a rule devoid of the substance required to ensure an open Internet based on market evidence and theory.” The entire Internet ecosystem will be upset by the Comcast-Netflix paid peering agreement, Ammori said. If the biggest technology companies transfer money to ISPs to ensure a solid connection to end-users, “it will likely lead to less venture investment across the board in technology companies,” and will “weaken the acquisition market that fuels technology investment,” he said. ISPs would extract rents from smaller companies too -- not interconnection fees, but “access fees,” he said. Section 706 alone can go part of the way toward keeping the Internet open, but Title II reclassification is necessary for the strongest impact, public interest groups commented earlier this week on potential net neutrality rules, which CEA, CTIA and others said shouldn’t be restrictive (CD March 25 p9).