By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com
August 27, 2009
Newly-minted Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski promised that his agency would enforce rules relating to "net neutrality," the principle that all content on the Internet should be accessed equally, and that networks cannot block some content in favor of other offerings.
"One thing I would say so that there is no confusion out there is that this FCC will support net neutrality and will enforce any violation of net neutrality principles," Genachowski told TheHill.com.
Genachowski's statement came in reference to its decision to enforce penalties on Comcast over the cable provider's blocking of user access to the BitTorrent file-sharing engine. The FCC voted 3-2 in August of 2008 that Comcast's actions were a violation of the "Internet Policy Statement" the agency adopted in 2005 under former chairman Michael Powell.
Powell's successor, Kevin Martin, generally preferred a hands-off approach to net neutrality, but said that the agency had jurisdiction to police Comcast and other Internet service providers under the terms of the statement. Comcast is currently appealing the ruling.
Genachowski, a former technology executive and longtime friend of President Barack Obama, has largely been silent on the issue of net neutrality since he was nominated to become FCC chairman. Although he professed support for it, he has been primarily focused on overseeing the disbursement of economic stimulus funds for broadband development.
The agency has also been slow to act due to delays in confirming Genachowski, as well as new committee members Mignon Clyburn and Meredith Atwell-Baker.
But the FCC hasn't been completely ignoring the issue. The agency sent letters to Apple, AT&T, and Google inquiring as to why Google Voice, which enables low-cost international calling, was blocked from usage on the iPhone.
Critics have claimed that either Apple or AT&T deliberately blocked Google Voice from being sold in the Apple Store in order to prevent competition. AT&T said it was not responsible for the denial, and Apple claims Google's application is still pending.
Supporters of net neutrality say that as more and more people use mobile devices to access the Internet, net neutrality will be increasingly important, as wireless carriers can block services or features on phones for multiple reasons.
