Wednesday, February 27, 2008
AT&T, TW, Verizon Make Case Against Net Neutrality
Regulation intended to ensure net neutrality will actually kill Internet innovation and crush an industry that has operated effectively through market forces alone, according to major telecom companies like AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner Cable.
Net neutrality advocates have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "medicate the Internet with a preemptive cocktail of experimental regulatory tonics," lawyers for AT&T wrote in an FCC filing.
"Internet regulation proponents have asked that the commission wade into a competitive marketplace driven by a fierce pace of technological innovation and pick winners and losers by regulatory fiat," added attorneys for Qwest Communications.
At the request of Free Press, the FCC is investigating whether "degrading peer-to-peer traffic" violates FCC rules for reasonable network management. The move comes after an Associated Press article and subsequent Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) test last year concluded that Comcast was blocking user access to peer-to-peer networks. Comcast admitted to delaying traffic during peak hours, but denied blocking P2P applications completely.
The FCC is also examining a petition from file-sharing company Vuze that asks for clarification on what constitutes "reasonable network management."
Telecoms like AT&T and Qwest submitted their comments on February 13, the last day the FCC was accepting public comments on the matter.
AT&T took aim at Google, which has sided with Free Press and Vuze on the issue. Google and Amazon last week issued their support for a net neutrality bill that would require the FCC to examine how Internet service providers manage their networks.
"It would be wholly arbitrary to regulate Comcast's purported 'traffic shaping' but not the content-shaping practices of Google within the search and online advertising markets it monopolizes," AT&T wrote.
Free Press complained that only Comcast knows the algorithm they use to shape traffic within Comcast's network. "But Free Press might just have easily been complaining about Google, which alone knows the secret algorithms it uses to order its search results," AT&T said.
None of the companies would address the accusations against Comcast directly, but they all supported the company's attempt at network management.
"Internet backbone service providers have no economic incentive to engage in the traffic management practices that Vuze fears [because] backbone service providers are fully compensated for the use of their network by their direct customers," according to the Global Crossing filing.
"Broadband providers must retain the flexibility to employ traffic management practices to protect their networks," Time Warner Cable's filing said.
The FCC should not expect telecom companies to publicly share its network management secrets, AT&T insisted. "There is no surer way to compromise the integrity of a given network than broadcasting the technical details of how that network is managed," the company said.
AT&T and Verizon have emerged recently as competitors to Comcast, as both phone providers have moved into the video space. Nonetheless, both companies came to Comcast's defense.
Network management is "appropriate and necessary," Verizon wrote in its filing.
Free Press and Vuze ignore the fact that network management is key to stopping threats like viruses and spam, Verizon wrote.
These issues are "best left to network engineers who must respond to real world concerns" and not regulatory agencies like the FCC, Verizon said.
The lone dissenter among providers was Vonage. Given that Vonage's service rides on cable and telecom carriers' services, Vonage is "critically interested in ensuring that its competitors do not use 'reasonable network management' as a pretext to degrade the performance of Vonage's service," the company wrote.
Vonage expressed concern that unchecked network management might impede its customers' ability to access 911 service. It called on the FCC to make sure access to emergency services was guaranteed.
Four years ago, the FCC mandated that VoIP providers like Vonage provide access to 911 after several unfortunate incidents with VoIP customers who were unaware that their Internet-based phone service did not connect to emergency services.
Net neutrality advocates have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "medicate the Internet with a preemptive cocktail of experimental regulatory tonics," lawyers for AT&T wrote in an FCC filing.
"Internet regulation proponents have asked that the commission wade into a competitive marketplace driven by a fierce pace of technological innovation and pick winners and losers by regulatory fiat," added attorneys for Qwest Communications.
At the request of Free Press, the FCC is investigating whether "degrading peer-to-peer traffic" violates FCC rules for reasonable network management. The move comes after an Associated Press article and subsequent Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) test last year concluded that Comcast was blocking user access to peer-to-peer networks. Comcast admitted to delaying traffic during peak hours, but denied blocking P2P applications completely.
The FCC is also examining a petition from file-sharing company Vuze that asks for clarification on what constitutes "reasonable network management."
Telecoms like AT&T and Qwest submitted their comments on February 13, the last day the FCC was accepting public comments on the matter.
AT&T took aim at Google, which has sided with Free Press and Vuze on the issue. Google and Amazon last week issued their support for a net neutrality bill that would require the FCC to examine how Internet service providers manage their networks.
"It would be wholly arbitrary to regulate Comcast's purported 'traffic shaping' but not the content-shaping practices of Google within the search and online advertising markets it monopolizes," AT&T wrote.
Free Press complained that only Comcast knows the algorithm they use to shape traffic within Comcast's network. "But Free Press might just have easily been complaining about Google, which alone knows the secret algorithms it uses to order its search results," AT&T said.
None of the companies would address the accusations against Comcast directly, but they all supported the company's attempt at network management.
"Internet backbone service providers have no economic incentive to engage in the traffic management practices that Vuze fears [because] backbone service providers are fully compensated for the use of their network by their direct customers," according to the Global Crossing filing.
"Broadband providers must retain the flexibility to employ traffic management practices to protect their networks," Time Warner Cable's filing said.
The FCC should not expect telecom companies to publicly share its network management secrets, AT&T insisted. "There is no surer way to compromise the integrity of a given network than broadcasting the technical details of how that network is managed," the company said.
AT&T and Verizon have emerged recently as competitors to Comcast, as both phone providers have moved into the video space. Nonetheless, both companies came to Comcast's defense.
Network management is "appropriate and necessary," Verizon wrote in its filing.
Free Press and Vuze ignore the fact that network management is key to stopping threats like viruses and spam, Verizon wrote.
These issues are "best left to network engineers who must respond to real world concerns" and not regulatory agencies like the FCC, Verizon said.
The lone dissenter among providers was Vonage. Given that Vonage's service rides on cable and telecom carriers' services, Vonage is "critically interested in ensuring that its competitors do not use 'reasonable network management' as a pretext to degrade the performance of Vonage's service," the company wrote.
Vonage expressed concern that unchecked network management might impede its customers' ability to access 911 service. It called on the FCC to make sure access to emergency services was guaranteed.
Four years ago, the FCC mandated that VoIP providers like Vonage provide access to 911 after several unfortunate incidents with VoIP customers who were unaware that their Internet-based phone service did not connect to emergency services.
# posted by LP Broadband High Speed Internet @ 2:40 PM 
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I agree that internet neutrality can effect the market value. But if these companies focus on high speed internet then they can get the benefits of using internet.
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# posted by 
: 1:35 AM
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