June 20, 2014

2014-06-20T20:00:23-04:00

https://images.c-span.org/Files/6c4/20140620201117003_hd.jpg

Witnesses testified at a hearing on the ability of antitrust laws versus Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations to ensure “net neutrality.” "Net neutrality," also known as open Internet, refers to the idea that Internet providers must allow all legal content to move through their networks uninhibited. Former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell and Federal Trade Commission member Joshua Wright said that antitrust laws were better equipped to ensure an open Internet. Columbia Law Professor Wu disagreed, telling the committee that the Internet had existed for 20 years with de facto net neutrality, and that to switch to antitrust law would be a mistake because the laws do not take into account non-economic values such as free speech.



The Federal Communications Commission had recently moved forward with a proposed “open Internet” rule that if fully implemented would allow the creation of a tiered Internet with “fast lanes” for content providers who are willing to pay more.

Witnesses testified at a hearing on the ability of antitrust laws versus Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations to ensure “net neutrality.” "Net… read more