Why should Paid Peering be illegal when CDNs fit the FCC’s definition of Paid Peering perfectly? The Internet has always been a medium where companies who paid more got their packets delivered with higher priority. Why is that fundamentally wrong now?

Yesterday, on the day that the FCC passed “Net Neutrality” regulations, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski proudly stated “I am proud of this process, which has been one of the most transparent in FCC history”.  Given that the public was never allowed to see the proposed rules before the vote, and that we still can’t see the [...]

Today is a different day. Today is the day the hammer of regulation is expected to drop on the Internet for the very first time. In light of that I felt it was best to offer a somewhat different research post today. Presented below are various sound offs about what to expect with the anticipated Network Neutrality regulation from the Federal Communications Commission from Franken to Farber & Faulhaber.

Destruction of property rights, or rejection of all methods of effectively defending them, is not the road to less government power and control. Quite the reverse. If creators cannot use property rights and markets to monetize their work, they will be forced to beg for government subsidies, and the system would rapidly evolve into total government control of expression.

David J. Farber and professor Gerald R. Faulhaber have articulated one of the most important points in the Net Neutrality debate by pointing out the dangers of the “Dead hand of regulation”. They note that “innovators are better at fighting it out in the market with better products rather than fighting it out in front of the FCC with high-priced lawyers”.

At Alley Insider, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings discusses why he thinks those who short his stock are making a mistake. It is an interesting discussion generally, for its insight into how a shrewd executive views the development of content delivery via the Internet, but for purposes of Digital Society’s focus on Net Neutrality, the most [...]

Now that the FCC is set to vote on Net Neutrality regulations this week, the “real” Net Neutrality hardliners are no longer hiding their true intentions. They want CDNs, app market, and devices to all be regulated under the Net Neutrality banner.

Public policy issues tend to get siloed, which means that net neutrality geeks and financial services geeks dwell in separate worlds. Still, I have an interest in payment networks because of work outside of Digital Society, and in viewing the webcast of yesterday’s Federal Reserve Board meeting on its proposed rule to implement the Durbin [...]

Espinosa, an Internet entrepreneur discusses a recent meeting with FCC Commissionaire Julius Genachowski and a number of other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to discuss the Net Neutrality debate. Espinosa discusses how he and others in the technology sector that support the open Internet but would like to see light touch regulation were pleased with the latest proposal from the FCC.

I sent a Letter to the Editor of the Seattle Times in response to their post “Web surfers beware of the fee tsunami”. While I’m thankful they posted the letter, I thought it was odd that they titled my letter “Beware of Internet tolls” since I provided a title “Broadband prices shouldn’t subsidize content distributors”. I would have at least titled it “There are no free tolls on the Internet”.