FCC and net neutrality
Jinfo Blog

25th September 2009

By Udo Hohlfeld

Item

Julius Genachowski, the director of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), intends to strengthen the neutrality of the net by adding two new paragraphs to the four basic rulings of the FCC. The aim of the new rules is to make sure that no net content is favored over other content by the net providers and that these inform their customers on measures they take to improve net performance, e.g. to avoid data "traffic jams". The experienced reader will know that these rules are not new. Already Genachowski's predecessor demanded them. What is new is that the FCC director now has a prominent supporter: President Barack Obama. The President is a fierce supporter of net neutrality. Consumers/Customers can discuss their opinions at http://openinternet.gov - a website published by the FCC. Of course, net neutrality is a desired reality, though net providers are strict opponents. They want to decide themselves how to handle the data streams and net content in their networks. The position of the net providers against Genachowski is not very strong, given that the FCC director is not only a fellow student of President Obama but also the architect of Obama's technology and innovation strategy.

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