Debating Regulations at the Edge and the Core

By Brad

Tomorrow, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will be holding a hearing on the FCC’s recent net neutrality regulations. And as Sara Jerome of The HIll reports, a GOP memo making the rounds offers clues as to where the hearings could be headed:

The GOP memo… asks why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would move forward with broadband regulations despite “[confessing] in its order that it has done no market analysis.”

It criticizes the agency for its choice to regulate Internet providers—and not the Internet companies who send apps and content over broadband lines.

The FCC order “selectively applies the rules to broadband providers, shielding web-based companies,” says the GOP memo.

The memo stresses that innovation is important “at the edge and the core” of the Internet, referring to both Internet companies and service providers.

“If the mere threat of Internet discrimination is such a concern, and if the FCC has done no analysis to demonstrate why one company has more market power than another, why would discrimination by companies like Google or Skype be any more acceptable than discrimination by companies like AT&T and Comcast?” the memo asks.