FCC Fine Print Could Undermine an Open Internet

[Are_grits_groceries]

Buried in the fine print of the FCC’s proposed Net Neutrality rules is a potential loophole that if left open would undermine the future of Internet freedom.

So says a group of prominent law professors who on Monday told the FCC that its proposed rules don't sufficiently define what the agency means by its use of the terms "non-discrimination" and "reasonable network management."

The professors -- all longtime champions of an open Internet -- submitted a letter to the agency "to flag what we believe are two ambiguities in the Notice that we hope can be addressed early to provide a clearer foundation for comments."
<snip>
The professors are concerned with the contradictory and unclear definitions of key terms that are at the heart of the proposed Net Neutrality rules.

Without clear and reliable definitions of "non-discrimination" and "reasonable network management," we could see the types of blocking that occurred in 2007 when Comcast secretly barred customers from using file-sharing applications such as BitTorrent.

Allowing ISPs this much leeway would effectively eliminate Net Neutrality. The rules need to be unambiguous and strong, the scholars write. And even now, at the beginning of the process, the FCC should be clear as to what it believes the standards should be.
<snip>
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/3/799997/-FCC-Fine-Print-Could-Undermine-an-Open-Internet

With friends like these..........

Damn! Always up to something and hiding huge loopholes in teeniny print. Can't trust a one of them.

[zbdent]

1. and Repukes always make a big stink about the size of legislation ...

closing loopholes doesn't work well when legislation consists of a poorly-worded paragraph ... or is just an "outline", or a sheet with "Republican Health Care Plan" on it ...

[NYC_SKP]

2. I'm glad Lawrence Lessig and others are watching this carefully.

"We submit this extraordinary early letter only to flag what we believe are two ambiguities in the Notice that we hope can be addressed early to provide a clearer foundation for comments," wrote Wu, Stanford University Law professors Larry Lessig and Barbara van Shewick; Yale Law School's Jack Balkin; South Texas College of Law Professor John Blevins; and University of Louisville School of Law's Jim Chen.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2009/11/_cisco_a_company_that.html