Dec
07
2010
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski last week announced proposed recommendations for regulating Internet access. The proposal, which is set for a December 21st vote, attempts to protect against carriers banning lawful content and separates fixed broadband access from mobile access. Generating concern among net neutrality advocates is language they say is ambiguous and therefore could lead to a two-tier system, in which faster service would be offered to customers at an increased price. The FCC is not the only federal agency tackling the uncharted territory of Internet regulation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that the US departments of Justice and Homeland Security conducted a new type of raid in the last few days of November. The agencies seized the domain names of 82 websites they said committed copyright infringement. However only some of the material on each site was deemed unlawful, but the domain seizures blocked access to all content. Using federal government muscle to shut-down websites with no prior warning is new, but numerous concerned parties are warning that proposed legislation would make these potentially unconstitutional actions common. On November 18th the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which now must go before Congress. If approved, COICA would further empower the government to police online content for copyright violations. In a joint letter law professors in opposition to the legislation argued that the bill, “If enacted, will have dangerous consequences for free expression online and the integrity of the Internet’s domain name system”. There is a bright spot coming out of federal Internet regulation, however, in the form a proposed “Do Not Track” list. The Federal Trade Commission is promoting the creation of a mechanism that would allow users to opt-in and prohibit advertisers from tracking their online activity, such as the news sites they read or products they search for.
GUESTS: Tim Karr, Campaign Director with Free Press
Find out more at: www.freepress.net and www.savetheinternet.com
