Groups Urge FCC to Reject NTIA Digital Discrimination Proposals

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation raised concerns last week about NTIA's comments to the FCC on digital discrimination. NTIA's use of the term "pricing practices" was a "poor disguise" to encourage adoption of rate regulation, ITIF said in a letter posted Friday in docket 22-69 (see 2310060067). It would be "an extreme step that would be harmful to the goal of universal connectivity and continued broadband investment," the group said. ITIF encouraged the FCC to "resist mission creep" with its ultimate digital discrimination rules. The International Center for Law & Economics agreed, adding the FCC "has for years been explicit about its apprehension to impose direct rate regulation." It also asked the agency to reject NTIA's proposal to adopt a disparate impact standard in the definition of digital discrimination. "Mere statistical correlation between outcomes and protected characteristics is insufficient to demonstrate discrimination," the group said.