Month: February 2015

In light of today’s Federal Communications Commission’s network neutrality proposals, I thought I’d look again at what I wrote in 2011 in Competition Law and Regulation of Technology Markets comparing EU and US telecoms regulation. Given that Chairman Wheeler has indicated that reclassification as Title II will not include unbundling requirements, the point I make below about the network neutrality debate in the US being conducted in behavioural rather than structural terms looks likely to remain true. 8.341 The US debate over whether cable or DSL service should be a telecoms or an internet service and the resulting regulatory consequences is necessary given the wording of the 1996 Telecoms Act, but seems metaphysical at best. The chokepoint, the point of the […]

First, Sir Tim Berners Lee writes a guest post on Vice President Ansip’s blog on the importance of network neutrality for Europe: When I designed the Web, I deliberately built it as a neutral, creative and collaborative space, building on the openness the Internet offered. My vision was that anyone, anywhere in the world could share knowledge and ideas without needing to buy a license or ask permission from myself or any CEO, government department or committee. This openness unleashed a tidal wave of innovation, and it is still powering new breakthroughs in science, commerce, culture and much more besides. Then today the US FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler proposes reclassifying local infrastructure under Title II of the 1996 Telecoms Act […]