WASHINGTON, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, several organizations, such
as MoveOn.org, U.S. PIRG and Common Cause, announced a lobbying campaign to
have the federal government regulate online content and delivery through
"net neutrality" regulations.
The following statement may be attributed to Chris Wolf, co-chair of
the Hands Off the Internet coalition (http://www.HandsOff.org):
"As today's announcement shows, those lobbying Congress for federal
'neutrality' regulations simply refuse to acknowledge the fatal problems of
regulating Internet content and delivery.
"If the federal government adopts neutrality regulations, Congress and
FCC regulators will have to write complex rules covering every aspect of
Internet traffic, including caching, collocation, and digitized packet
prioritization and reassembly.
"Federal regulation of Internet traffic will produce a host of
unintended -- but completely predictable -- consequences. First, making
broadband providers liable in court for the way they 'carry' digitized
information is a sure way to drive up costs. And when these rules are
challenged in court, will that help or hurt efforts to improve America's
broadband deployment?
"Trying to guess at a regulated formula for network neutrality that
would protect the public interest and not impede innovation is on par with
picking a perfect NCAA basketball bracket. Federal regulation of Internet
neutrality is a bad idea whose time will hopefully never come."
The Hands Off the Internet coalition is a Washington, DC-based
coalition of companies and nonprofit organizations that believes the
Internet has flourished because government has not tried to regulate it.
Members include Alcatel, AT&T, the National Association of Manufacturers,
FiberControl, and Cinergy Communications. Nonprofit members include
Citizens Against Government Waste, the American Conservative Union and the
Ministerial Alliance Against the Digital Divide.
SOURCE Hands Off the Internet
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.HandsOff.org
CONTACT:
Adam Bromberg, +1-703-683-5004 x102, for
Hands Off the Internet
|
