[IP] more on Alfred Kahn on network neutrality and the Madison River "precedent"
Begin forwarded message:
From: Rob Frieden <rmf5@xxxxxxx>
Date: November 1, 2006 10:48:20 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Alfred Kahn on network neutrality and the Madison River
"precedent"
Hello All:
I do have one qualification to Professor Kahn's essay. I am not
confident that the FCC's action on Madison River proves that it can
and will respond to unlawful price and quality of service
discrimination. Operating as a telecommunications carrier and
nominally still subject to Communications Act of 1934 Title II common
carrier regulations, Madison River bears interconnection
responsibilities not borne by Internet Service Providers. ISPs
qualify for the largely unregulated information service provider
classification. Absent Title II regulation the FCC only has a broad
public interest mandate under Title I. While the FCC has stretched
the scope of Title I to include wiretapping and E-911 access, I am
not at all convinced the FCC could force an ISP, as opposed to a
telephone or cable television company, to remove "obvious violations
of antitrust principles."
I have available a draft unsponsored article in which I acknowledge
the FCC's swift intervention in Madison River. See http://
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=893649
However, I note that the Commission might not be so proactive if the
terminating carrier qualified for ISP, information service provider
status, a category now applicable to cable modem and Digital
Subscriber Line service providers such as cable television and
telephone companies. If AT&T refuses to adopt network neutrality
principles on a voluntary basis--as part of its BellSouth merger
conditions--I am not confident that the FCC could impose them if
AT&T, operating as an ISP, refused to carry terminating VoIP traffic
over its long haul or last mile (DSL) network.
Regards,
Rob Frieden
Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications
Penn State University
102 Carnegie Building, University Park, PA 16802
office: (814) 863-7996; fax (814) 863-8161
home: (814) 867-2545
Web page: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/r/m/rmf5/
Faculty profile: http://www.psu.edu/dept/comm/faculty/frieden.html
SSRN Papers Site: <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?
per_id=102928>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?
per_id=102928
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