The FCC can avoid many pitfalls by relying...

The FCC can avoid many pitfalls by relying on Telecom Act Section 706 to protect an open Internet on a case-by-case basis, rather than imposing new net neutrality rules, said a paper by John Mayo, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy. Mayo said the debate has divided observers into two ideological camps, but there is a middle road. “An output-centric 706 approach allows the nation to move forward without ex ante Title II regulatory rules imported from an era of public-utility regulation of telephone service,” he wrote in a report released Monday (http://bit.ly/1i5pUPi). Use of Section 706 allows the FCC to use “regulatory methods” to “encourage the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans,” he said.